XCOM: Enemy Within DLC (EU2012)

On August 21st, Producer 2K revealed during Gamescom 2013 a new expansion/DLC for XCOM: Enemy Unknown called XCOM: Enemy Within. It is available also for consoles and was released on November 12th, 2013 on the US, and November 15th internationally.

An initial list of details was revealed on August 21st on this video, along with these articles from Polygon and IGN. For the latest details check the official Enemy Within FAQ thread on the 2K's forums [1]. For what looks like a tutorial on the various new components see [2].

You can also take part in an interactive trailer here.

Warning: this page is being updated as new info is gathered from the game. New info is marked with (UPDATED) on the title sections. ***SPOILERS AHEAD*** - Read at your own risk!

General Details

• The PC version costs 30$ and the Console 40$.
• The PC is sold as traditional DLC through Steam but the console owners will have to buy the Commander's Edition, consisting of Enemy Unknown, plus the Elite Soldier Pack, Slingshot and Enemy Within DLCs.
• Currently Firaxis has no plans to launch Enemy Within for iOS, due to the already large file size of the original game for the device.

The Meld (UPDATED)

• The Meld is a new alien resource that is present in canisters on several maps (Abductions and UFOs). Meld can also be recovered from Mechtoid and Heavy Floater bodies.
• Meld is composed of organic nanomachines and needs to be researched (Meld Recombination) to be used.
• All the abductions and UFO maps have been redesigned to include 2 Meld canisters. [3]
• The 2 Meld canisters need to be captured during a certain timeframe, otherwise they will self-destruct forcing a player to move swiftly to find and capture them. 1 canister is located on a location easy to reach, another in a hard location. The canisters can be hidden to force a player to look for them.
  • Additionally, the Canisters are reported to spawn once per applicable map per playthrough: there will only be a certain number of canisters in a given campaign ([4]).
• When Meld canisters self-destruct they will explode and cause damage to any player units nearby. [5]
• Meld canisters can be destroyed with explosives. [6]
• When you kill all aliens on a mission you'll automatically recover any unexploded Meld containers, including still hidden ones, according to a Rock, Paper, Shotgun interview.
• The Meld can be used to create either MEC Troopers (a new class) or to genetically increase any class abilities (Gene Mods).
  • In consideration of the limited number of Canisters, it's also been revealed that this leads to a choice of quality vs quantity for how you will spend the upgrades.
• The Meld also brings 2 new base facilities: Genetics Lab and Cybernetics Lab. Both cost §50 and require 3 power and 10 days to build. The Cybernetics Labs count as workshops and the Genetics Lab with Laboratories for adjacency bonus.
  • For consideration on building them early or late; whether you want 5 engineers, or low-level Mech troopers, with what limited resources you'll have early on, for example.
  • There are reflective Meld 'crystals' in the Antfarm view. Zooming in on them, angled facets show a brick wall with a window, facets facing the camera seem to be reflecting a sprite of a green-irised eye.
• There is a small tutorial to show how Meld works.

• 

  Meld Canister with 5 turns remaining

• 

  Meld Molecule

Gene Mods

• Emblem translation (Lit): "Change to Protect" (To bring change to the custodian)
• Alien autopsies will reveal genetic modifications ("Gene Mods") for your soldiers.
• Gene Mods can apply to the following categories: Brain, Eyes, Chest, Skin, Legs, with 2 options available for each (and that can be swapped at a cost)

Genetics Lab Projects (UPDATED)

• Up to 3 soldiers (from Squaddie upwards) can be modded each time on the Genetics Labs and it takes 3 days for each individual mod, installing 5 on a soldier will take 15 days to complete [7].
• Modded soldiers will have a specific icon, with their class icon superimposed over it.
• Modded soldiers have a different appearance than regular soldiers, with less armor plating being shown.

Brain

• Neural Feedback - Causes damage to psi attackers and puts all of their psi attacks on cooldown. Does no reduce the attackers chance of success.
  • Cost: §35, 10 Meld
  • Base damage 7

• Neural Damping - Confers +20 Will when defending against psi attacks, and immunity to panic. If the soldier is Mind Controlled, the control is cancelled, and the soldier is stunned for 1 turn instead.
  • Cost: §35, 20 Meld, requires Berserker Autopsy Research.

Eyes

• Hyper Reactive Pupils - Confers +10 Aim to any shot after a miss.
  • Cost: §15, 5 Meld, requires Meld Recombination Research)
  • Best on soldier classes that you regularly put on Overwatch: if they miss on it, then their next shot benefits from this.

• Depth Perception - Height Advantage confers an additional +5 Aim and 5+ critical chance.
  • Cost: §15, 5 Meld, requires Meld Recombination Research).
  • On a Damn Good Ground Sniper, with Archangel Armor, a S.C.O.P.E., and a few medals...

Chest

• Secondary Heart - Causes soldiers to bleed out instead of dying the first time they go to zero health during a mission. The bleed out timer is extended for 2 turns. Prevents loss of will from critical wounds.
• Cost §75, 15 Meld, requires Cyberdisc Autopsy Research.
  • Case in point: The Doctor's never lost his will. Very useful for your Psi Squad.

• Adrenal Neurosympathy - Overloads the soldiers adrenal glands: when a kill is confirmed the soldier emits pheromones that grant offensive benefits to all nearby squad mates. Cannot occur more than once on every 5 turns.
  • Cost: §10, 25 Meld, requires Muton Autopsy Research.
  • Includes boosts to Will, that do affect Psi attack/defense, so also helpful to your Psi Squad.

Skin

• Bioelectric Skin - The soldier projects an electric skin from his or her skin, revealing but not alerting nearby enemies, and is immune to strangulation.
  • Cost: §35, 15 Meld, requires Chryssalid Autopsy Research.
  • Buy it against the Seekers, keep it so you'll know what's behind that door. Is "wall-piercing." In battle, Seekers drop their cloaking, and enemies that are out of Line of Sight show as distinct signals nearby.

• Mimetic Skin - Confers the ability to change skin pattern to match cover. When a soldier moves to high cover, enemies without special abilities will not target soldier. Does not work if any enemies have line of sight to the soldier's starting position. Leaving cover or firing will break this concealment.
  • Cost: §75, 35 Meld, requires Seeker Autopsy Research.
  • In practice: be out of Line of Sight of an enemy, then move to full cover: soldier will essentially Ghost Mode before moving. If flanked, ghosting will drop, so the full cover must be relative to the enemy (but can be used to at least bypass enemy Overwatch).
  • As it does mimic Ghosting, you cannot use Ghost Armor's mode (though you can, and probably still should equip it, at least for the move bonus and the Grapple).

Legs

• Muscle Fiber Density - Confers superhuman leg strength, enabling the soldier to reach high positions without the need for ladders or other climbing aids.
  • Cost: §60, 25 Meld, requires Thin Man Autopsy Research.
  • Equally useful as the Skeleton/Ghost armor's grapple, somewhat less than Archangel's flight (except that there's no fuel cost). For late-game, most useful for anyone in Titan armor.

• Adaptive Bone Marrow - Wound recovery time is reduced by 66%. Soldier regenerates 2 HP per turn up to the HP max without armor.
  • Cost: §30, 15 Meld, requires Meld Recombination Research.
  • Stacks with the OTS's Rapid Recovery causing soldiers to recover even faster from injuries.
  • Pairs well with Secondary Heart to preserve your Psi soldiers, and keep them out of the infirmary (or a least get them back out fast enough to not miss a mission).

• 

  Gene Mods

• 

  Modded Soldier

MEC Trooper

• Emblem translation: "Warrior in the Machine"
• MEC Troopers can be created from any soldier above rookie rank, but they'll lose all abilities they previously had. For example, if player sacrifices a sergeant-ranked soldier, he/she would get sergeant-ranked MEC, along with the ability to purchase skills from the first three ranks.

• MEC Troopers have the Mechanized Exoskeleton Cybersuit or MEC Suit which can be damaged and need to be repaired. You cannot deploy a MEC Trooper without a suit.
• MEC Suits came with the Minigun as its default Primary Weapon: more advanced primary weapons need to be manufactured in Engineering before being deployed.
• There are 2 new options on Engineering: Build/Upgrade MEC (for the suits) and Augment Soldiers (to transform soldiers into MEC Troopers).
• The Cybernetics Lab can augment 3 soldiers at a time and it costs §10 and 10 Meld units. The process takes 3 days and soldiers will lose all Gene Mods when augmented. The process is irreversible.~

• After a soldier is converted into a MEC he/she will wear a metal endoskeleton called Base Augments as armor.
• According to the developers MECs are very expensive to purchase.
• MECs can't use Cover (and they can't be flanked). This mean that they probably have the Hardened ability present on SHIVs and alien robotic units that gives increased protection against critical hits.
• As per GameSpot article, MEC Troopers get monotone, Robocop-esque voice.

Primary Weapons (UPDATED)

• Primary Weapon: Minigun
  • Tactical Info
    • Effective range: Medium; 4-6 base damage, 10% critical chance, 8-10 critical damage
    • Only equipped by MEC troopers
    • Risk of catastrophic overheating precludes suppression with this weapon
  • Always available, does not need to be manufactured.

• Primary Weapon: Railgun
  • This high-powered, recoiless slugthrower can be fired in short bursts to devastating effect, although the sizes of its housing and power supply require it to be mounted on a MEC. Prior to our research on heavy lasers, we had no access to a small enough power source.
  • Research required: Heavy Lasers. Cost: §70, 30 Alien Alloys, 10 Engineers.
  • Tactical Info
    • Effective range: Medium; 6-8 base damage, 10% critical chance, 11-13 critical damage)
    • Miniaturized power supply derived from laser tech.
    • Only equipped by MEC troopers
    • Risk of catastrophic overheating precludes suppression with this weapon

• Primary Weapon: Particle Cannon
  • Tactical Info
    • Effective range: ?; 9-11 base damage, 10% critical chance, ? critical damage
  • Research required: ?. Cost: $325, 40 Alien Alloys, 40 Elerium, 40 Engineers.

MEC Suits

There are 3 tiers of MEC Suits which can be customized, each unlocks a choice between two new tactical subsystems, allowing for 8 different builds of MEC Suits:

MEC-1 Warden

• Cost: §25, 40 Meld
• Gives +8 Health (+11 Health with Shaped Armor Foundry project), +10 Defense, +10 Will
• Tactical Subsystems:
  • Kinetic Strike Module - A powerful arm upgrade for the MEC, allowing the wielder to pulverize adjacent cover and enemies. Also boosts mobility. (A melee attack that deals 12 damage to enemies and can destroy cover).
  • Can be freely aimed (but must be next to target).
  • Custom kill animations against Mechtoids, Sectopods and Berserkers.
  • Notable Kills: Cyberdisks get knocked a few squares away, will explode where it lands. Etherials won't explode. Thin Men release gas right away (but MEC Troopers are immune). Sectopods's explosion causes 5HP damage to anything around it.
  • Flamethrower - Allows MEC to lay waste to a cone-shaped area. Flame can spill outside the aiming area. (Does 9 fire damage to units in the damage cone, and splits to 1 extra tile at cone's edge. Causes panic to enemies and sets fire to the environment.)
    • Works only on units on the ground. Not wall-piercing. Flame takes time to damage cover. Red and yellow highlights on floorgrid show area, affected units highlighted.

MEC-2 Sentinel

• Requires UFO Power Source research.
• Upgrade cost: §32, 60 Meld units, 10 Engineers.
• Gives +12 Health (+15 Health with Shaped Armor Foundry project), +10 Defense, +15 Will
• Tactical Subsystems:
  • Grenade Launcher - MECs can make for their lack of thrown grenade capability with a long-range grenade launcher. (deals 4-5 damage)
    • Similar to Bombard
  • Restorative Mist - Medikits require fine motor control; instead, the MEC can spray Restorative Mist to heal all nearby allies.
    • Includes self, AoE. Does not stabilize Critically Wounded soldiers.

MEC-3 Paladin

• Requires Titan Armor research.
• Upgrade cost: §106, 100 Meld units, 25 Engineers [8].
• Gives +16 Health (+19 Health with Shaped Armor Foundry project), +10 Defense, +20 Will
• Tactical Subsystems:
  • Proximity Mine Launcher - Proximity mines can be deployed at medium range, and will wait nearby enemy movement before triggering their explosive charges.
    • Tossing through a UFO's Light Door will open it.
    • Other AoE attacks will cause the mines to go off in a sympathetic explosion, giving you a nice combo.
  • Electro Pulse - MECs can stun organic enemies and damage robotic ones with this area-of-effect electric shock device

MEC Abilities (UPDATED)

• MEC's skill tree is divided into two categories: Fire Support (offense) and Survivability (defense).
• Up being coverted the MECs gain a Bonus ability that depends on the former class of the converted soldier. The following distribution is based on the abilities icons on this video [9].
  • Heavy - Body Shield - The nearest visible enemy suffers -20 Aim and cannot critically hit this unit.
  • Assault: Shock-Absorbent Armor - Damage received from enemies within 4 tiles is reduced by 33%.
  • Sniper: Platform Stability - Any shots taken without moving have +10 Aim and +10% critical chance.
  • Support: Distortion Field - Nearby allies in cover receive +10 Defense.
• Further MEC abilities disclosed:
  • Squaddie:
    • Collateral Damage - Area of effect attack that destroys most cover and hits all eligible targets for 34% damage. This attack cannot cause critical hits. (allows to target terrain, costs a full clip of ammo)
  • Corporal
    • Advanced Fire Control - Shots from Overwatch no longer suffer any Aim penalty.
    • Automated Threat Assessment - Confers +15 Defense when in Overwatch.
  • Sergeant
    • Vital-Point Targeting - Confers 2 bonus damage against targets that have been autopsied.
    • Damage Control - When the MEC takes damage, all further damage will be reduced by 2 on the following 2 turns.
  • Lieutenant
    • One For All - When activated, the MEC becomes a high cover element. Moving or using an arm-based weapon will return the MEC to standard posture.
    • Jet Boot Module - When activated, confers the ability to jump to normally inaccessible heights for the rest of the turn.
  • Captain
    • Expanded Storage - Allows additional uses of Restorative Mist, Grenade Launcher and Proximity Mine Launcher in each mission, and increases primary weapon base ammo by 50%.
      • Gives +2 Proximity Mines, +1 Restorative Mist and +1 Grenade
    • Repair Servos - Confers 2 health recovery at the start of each turn. A total of 6 health can be regenerated per battle.
  • Major
    • Overdrive - Firing the MEC's primary weapon as the first action no longer ends the turn.
  • Colonel
    • Absortion Fields -Any hit that makes 33% more damage to the MEC's maximum health is reduced to that number.
    • Reactive Targeting Sensors - MEC gets a free shot back at the first enemy who attacks the MEC each turn, providing there's enough ammo do to so.

MEC Rank Progression (UPDATED)

Rank and Stats Bonuses

Class	Squaddie	Corporal	Sergeant	Lieutenant	Captain	Major	Colonel	Total
MEC Trooper	Health Points + 1 Aim + 0 Will + 2	Health Points + 0 Aim + 1 Will + 2	Health Points + 1 Aim + 1 Will + 2	Health Points + 0 Aim + 1 Will + 2	Health Points + 1 Aim + 2 Will + 2	Health Points + 0 Aim + 2 Will + 2	Health Points + 1 Aim + 3 Will + 2	Health Points + 4 Aim + 10 Will + 14

• 

  The MEC Trooper

• 

  The MEC Suit

• 

  Burn baby burn

New Aliens

Mechtoid (UPDATED)

• Aliens also have two confirmed new units, including the Mechtoid (UPDATE) (Sectoid Mech version). The Mechtoid can fire twice in a turn and Sectoids can mind merge with it and give it a 6 damage reducing shield [10](but it won't die if the merger is killed). Mechtoids are immune to the effects of the new Poison Grenade and to the Flamethrower. Mechtoids replace Sectoids as the game progresses.
• In another post at the 2K forums, Ananda Gupta has revealed more details about the Mechtoid:
  • The shield reduces all incoming weapons damage to the Mechtoid.
  • Killing the Sectoid that is mind merged with the Mechtoid cancels the shield and causes light damage to the mechanized alien.
  • Recovered dead Mechtoids will give 2 alien artifacts: the Sectoid's pilot corpse and 1 Mech Core.
  • Research of the Mech Core gives 2 new Foundry projects: Shaped Armor (adds extra health to MECs and S.H.I.V.s) and Advanced Servomotors, which increases mobility for these 2 armored units.
  • Killed Mechtoids will also grant small amounts of Meld.

Seeker (UPDATED)

The Seeker

• The 2nd new alien is the Seeker (UPDATED) and has been revealed on his video [11] to be some sort of a biomechanic floating squid, somewhat similar in concept to TFTD's Tentaculat, that can become invisible to your soldier's eyes.
  • Seekers have a new AI, designed as hit and run units that will use their stealth (aka Cloak) to approach lone soldiers (such as Snipers with Squad Sight) and attack them through a melee attack of strangulation. The victim will not die immediately but will take damage each turn until the Seeker is killed or releases its victim. After a soldier is released from strangulation it will have to catch its breath. Seekers also have a ranged plasma attack.
  • Seekers are immune to the Flamethrower and arrive during April. They can be detected through the Battle Scanner and the Biometric Skin mod. The Cloak depletes during movement, behaving rather like the flight mode of Archangel Armor than the cloak of Ghost Armor.[12]
    • This last characteristic can also flavor mobile squad tactics rather than fighting from a fixed position since it forces Seekers to spend more of their Cloaking ability to approach a soldier and risk running out of cloak upon open sight of your troops. That is, assuming soldiers are running away from the hidden Seeker rather than towards it.
• More details of the Seeker can be found in a post on EW's Developer Blog where Ananda Gupta describes the new alien, including the fact that the Strangle ability cannot be used when the Seeker is visible, and it is the only XCOM enemy that can occupy the same space as another unit.

Other Alien Changes (UPDATED)

• Muton Elites Health Points have been increased to 18 on Classic (from previous 14) and 20 on Impossible difficulties (up from 14).
• The first Mech alien was based on the Muton but the idea was dropped because of the Muton's already big size.
• Sectopods have also been improved to balance the addition of the new features. Sectopod get a new passive ability called Reinforced Armor which will cut all incoming damage in half.
• Additionally, AI for old enemy types has been slightly tweaked.
• Existing aliens are getting more "death" animations as development team had to create a new set of MEC related death sequences

EXALT (New Faction)

• EXALT is a new global human threat. They will carry out anti-XCOM operations until their base is found and destroyed.
• EXALT is a paramilitary secret society that seeks to use alien tech to enrich and technologically change themselves and gain world domination.
• EXALT wants the aliens to genetically perfect mankind and sees XCOM as an obstacle to that. While EXALT agrees with the aliens, it will avoid working with them and instead and disrupt XCOM efforts's to fight the invasion. [13]
• Despite sharing some common goals, the Aliens and EXALT will not cooperate together and appear together on any mission.
• The first EXALT mission takes place on May, the day depends on the difficulty level.

EXALT in-game Briefing

1. EXALT operates with cells. Initiate covert ops missions to neutralize individual cells. Eliminating those cells will recover intel you will need to locate the EXALT base.
2. EXALT cells are not always visible. Purchase an intel scan to reveal them. Hidden cells can hurt XCOM or the countries they are operating in.

EXALT Operations

• Intel scans cost 50§ (and slowly increase) and will reveal any additional cells to the ones already revealed.
• Revealing EXALT cells will postpone their ability to hurt XCOM operations. Only hidden EXALT cells can conduct operations.
• After a while an exposed EXALT cell will relocate to another country and become hidden.
• Hidden EXALT cells can conduct 3 types of operations:
  • Propaganda - Increases Panic on the targeted country.
  • Sabotage - Reduces XCOM's money supply.
  • Research Hack - Slow down XCOM's current research.
• Also, if you turn down an abduction in Africa and there's an exposed EXALT cell on that country then the resulting panic from the Abduction is further increased.
• Building Labs can provide a guard against Research Hacks.
• Like with dealing with the Cult of Sirus; regular counter-operations to keep them neutered means XP, swag, and less hassle for you

Covert Operations Missions

• To stop a revealed EXALT cell, XCOM may perform a Covert Mission on the country where the cell is based.
• There are two types of Covert Missions, Cover Extraction and Covert Data Recovery, with about 10 maps for each type (20 total).
• The mission consists of two parts, the insertion of the Covert Operative (through the Situation Room) and later its extraction through a tactical mission.

. If the tactical mission is ignored after the XCOM soldier is inserted, the Covert Operative will be lost.

• There's no Meld in Covert Missions maps.
• If the Covert Mission is a failure the EXALT cell will disappear and go into hiding into another country.

Covert Operative Deployment

Covert Operative in-game Briefing

1. Covert operatives are limited to pistols; pistol tech and Foundry upgrades may be useful.
2. Covert operatives have a powerful in-mission ability. "EXALT Comm Hack". If you can find an EXALT comm array, you covert operative can hack it, disabling all EXALT forces weapons for a short time.
3. Heavy soldiers and MEC Troopers are ineligible for covert ops duty.

• With only a Pistol as a weapon, Covert Operatives will depend a lot on their specific class abilities like Low Profile, Sprinter or Lightning Reflexes.
• Operatives deploy with no armor and only 1 item slot, but they can be upgraded to 2 item slots if the necessary Foundry upgrade is purchased.
• Covert operatives have a powerful in-mission ability. "EXALT Comm Hack". If you can find an EXALT comm array, you covert operative can hack it, disabling all EXALT forces weapons for a short time.

Covert Extraction

• During the mission there are 4 Transponders present on the map, and 2 specific ones (they are marked) will have to be hacked by your covert operative.
• EXALT will try to capture Transponders as well, and if they successfully capture 2 the mission will be a failure for XCOM.
• After the operative hacks the 2 specific Transponders it will have to get back to the extraction area for the mission to be complete.

Covert Data Recovery

Mission Briefing

1. The covert operative has finished setting up the encoder and transmitter, but EXALT is inbound. Protect the intel assets by eliminating all EXALT forces in the AO.
2. Protect Intel assets (encoder and transmiter). Encoder can be used by EXALT to determine location of the Transmitter. The transmitter is the key of the mission.
3. EXALT Comm Arrays can be hacked by the operative to delay EXALT's operations and slow down their offense.
4. Your Covert Operative is not essential

• During the mission there are both an Encoder and a Transmitter located on the map with a marked area around both. XCOM's Covert Operative starts close to the Transmitter.
• EXALT will first try to gain control of the Encoder for 3 turns, by having one of its agents on the marked area encircling it, without any XCOM soldiers also present on the area.
  • Having an XCOM soldier also in the "Capture" field blocks the hack, keeping the encoder and transmitter secure.
    • Naturally, with such small areas involved; the risk is that of close-quarters combat and easy flanking.
• After EXALT gains control of the Encoder, it will know the location of the Transmitter and will try also to place 1 agent on the marked area around it for 3 turns. If EXALT is successful in controlling the Transmitter, the mission will be a failure.
• The player is warned whenever an EXALT agent enters any of the marked areas, with counters indicating the number of turns remaining for EXALT to control those marked areas.
• Besides the Encoder and Transmitter, there are EXALT Comm Arrays on the area. If the Covert Operative reaches one of those Arrays, it can hack EXALT's agents, causing all their hand weapons to jam for 1 turn.
• Survival of the Covert Operative is not required for mission success. Those Rookies may look good on the Covert Operative's new jacket look...

EXALT Base Raid

• Every successful mission where you recover EXALT intel will give a clue about the EXALT HQ.
• Once you get 3 clues you may make an accusation (raid) against a country.
• If the accusation is correct then you'll assault EXALT's base and end their menace for good.
• If you're wrong the country will leave the council. You can get additional clues to narrow it to a single country. Some examples of clues:
  • "The EXALT base is not in a English speaking country"
  • "The EXALT base is not in Africa"
• If you accuse a country which already left the council, the penalty for guessing wrong is a continent-wide panic increase.

EXALT forces

• EXALT operates with a similar class structure as XCOM, fielding 4 types of soldiers: Sniper, Heavy, Operative (like Assault) and Medic.
• Later there are Elite versions of all classes, using additional tech improvements.
• EXALT weaponry is conventional at first but they will also upgrade their weapons to Laser/Plasma and use Gene Mods to enhance their units.
• They however do not gain MECs
• EXALT agents can't be captured since they'll suicide with a syringe if hit by an Arc Thrower. Their weapons however can be recovered and used instead of XCOM's models or sold at the Grey Market for §1 each.

EXALT Stats & Weapons (UPDATED)

Check each individual unit's page:

• EXALT Operative
  • EXALT Assault Rifle
• EXALT Sniper
  • EXALT Sniper Rifle
• EXALT Heavy
  • EXALT LMG
  • EXALT Rocket Launcher
• EXALT Medic
  • EXALT Assault Rifle
• EXALT Elite Operative
  • EXALT Laser Rifle
• EXALT Elite Sniper
  • EXALT Laser Rifle
• EXALT Elite Heavy
  • EXALT Heavy Laser
  • EXALT Rocket Launcher
  • Alien Grenade
• EXALT Elite Medic
  • EXALT Laser Rifle

• 

  EXALT symbol on the EW trailer

• 

  EXALT Agents

XCOM Changes

Classes

• Barracks capacity is now limited to 70 soldiers instead of the 99 possible on EU.
• Assault's Close and Personal has now been redesigned to - The first standard shot made within 4 tiles of the target does not cost an action. Cannot combine with Run And Gun.
  • You can run up to an enemy shoot it and then run back into cover.
• Support's Covering Fire now fires before the enemy uses its weapon.
• Sniper's Snap Shot aim penalty reduced from -20 to -10.
• Sniper's Squad Sight only gives Critical Damage if Headshot is used.
• Support's Deep Pockets now gives +1 charge to Grenades, Arc Thrower, Medikits or any other item with limited uses.
• Soldier progression has been delayed to balance the new MECs and GMods.
• Heavy's HEAT Ammo doesn't double damage, but only adds 50% now.
• S.H.I.V.s can also be further upgraded, based on the new MEC abilities.
• Heavy's Grenadier now gives extra (+1) damage to grenades.

Soldier Progression (UPDATED)

In general XP requirements have been increased from 20 to 30%. MEC soldiers gain only 50% of the normal experience points received through kills. Psionic XP requirements have not been changed.

XP Required per Rank

Rank	Points Required	Points Required (EW DLC)
Rookie	0	0
Squaddie	90	90
Corporal	300	480
Sergeant	510	700
Lieutenant	745	925
Captain	1100	1380
Major	1560	1840
Colonel	2150	2550
Psionic*	0	0
Specialist	50	50
Operative	120	120

Medals (UPDATED)

• Medals can now be assigned to soldiers. They appear as a new option in the Barracks menu.
• Medals can be received upon completing certain objectives in missions. There is a cap on the number of medals that can be present on the entire pool of live soldiers.
• The name of the medals can be changed and there is a choice between 2 options that will increase the soldier's stats upon receiving it.
• There is a limit of the number of medals that can be issued. However, if soldiers with medals are killed the medal are available again for awards after some missions have been played afterwards.
• Names and Types of Medals:

• • Urban Combat Badge
    • +5 Defense when in cover or +5 Aim against enemies in full cover.
    • Maximum of 5 medals issued. Requires completing an urban map mission?

• • Defender's Medal
    • Never panic as result of allies getting wounded or killed or Medikits and Restorative Mists heal 2 HP more when used on this soldier.
    • Maximum of 3 medals issued. Requires a soldier dying, being critically injured or being stabilized?

• • International Service Cross
    • +2 Will per different nationality in the squad or +2 Aim per continent bonus XCOM has earned.
    • Maximum of 2 medals issued. Requires performing missions on 3 different continents.

• • Council Medal of Honor
    • +1 Aim and Will for each mission completed with no soldier deaths, up to a maximum of +10. or Provides 10 Aim and Critical Chance if not within 7 tiles of an allied unit.
    • Maximum unknown (at least 2). Complete 3 Special missions?

• • Star of Terra
    • Entire squad receives +5 Will and +5 Defense in battle. Robotic units receive only the Defense bonus. or All soldiers in the squad at Lieutenant rank or lower gain +25% XP for completing missions.
    • Maximum of 1 medal. Complete XCOM Base Defense mission.

New Items

• Needle Grenade
  • A variant on the Frag Grenade, this weapon does equivalent damage over a much larger area but the projectiles cannot damage cover. Thus units in cover related to the center of the blast area will be unaffected.
  • Requires Chryssalid Autopsy research.
  • Cost: §40, 5 Alloys, 2 Chryssalid Corpses, 7 Engineers.
  • Tactical Info:
    • Increased blast radius compared to standard frag grenade
    • Like frag grenade gives 3 base explosive damage to units in radius
    • Units in cover relative to center of blast radius will not take damage

• Flashbang Grenade
  • Enemy units inside the blast radius suffer significant Aim and movement penalties during their next turn. Robotic and advanced psionic enemies are immune.
  • Requires Experimental Warfare Research.
  • Cost: §35, 5 Alloys, 2 Chryssalid Corpses, 7 Engineers.
  • Tactical Info:
    • Enemy units inside the blast radius suffer significant Aim and movement penalties during their next turn.
    • Robotic and advanced psionic enemies are immune.

• Gas Grenade
  • Our advanced research in alien physiology has allowed us to synthesize a modified version of the poison projected by the Thin Man, and containerize it in grenade form.
  • Requires Thin Man Autopsy Research.
  • Cost: §35, Thin Man Corpses, 7 Engineers.
  • Tactical Info:
    • Creates a poison gas cloud at impact site
    • Affects all targets in blast radius
    • Poison lasts 1-3 turns, doing damage each turn
  • Uses synthesized Thin Man poison, robotic units who are immune.

• Ghost Grenade
  • This grenade contains elerium-infused particles that, when diffused into our soldiers, causes them to become invisible. These particles will lose their elerium charge after a brief time, and competing energy sources - such as weapons fire - will disrupt them.
  • Gives friendly units the ability to become invisible for a turn.
  • Requires Seeker Autopsy Research.
  • Cost: §200, 25 Elerium, Seeker Corpses, 10 Engineers.
  • Tactical Info:
    • Confers temporary stealth on all friendly units in blast radius
    • Stealth lasts until the start of the unit's next turn
    • Attacks from stealth receive a substantial bonus to critical chance
    • Does not affect Seekers or units with Mimetic Skin"

• Mimic Beacon
  • This device has been programmed to mimic the auditory cues the invaders appear to use in the field. It can be used to attract their attention to an area.
  • Cost: §50, 5 Engineers.
  • Tactical Info:
    • Thrown like a grenade
    • Emits sounds that correspond to alien tactical cues
    • Causes aliens within radius to approach the beacon for 2 turns
    • Enemies already in combat are less likely to be fooled
  • Can be thrown on the map into a square within the player's moving range. The mimic beacon will send out a signal that tricks aliens into thinking it's human, drawing them towards it and away from any nearby player units. Robot and psi enemies aren't fooled.

• Reaper Rounds
  • Experimental ballistics have led to this specialized conventional weapon load. It can cause substantial extra damage to affected targets, but the additional casing elements make it less accurate at long range. The rounds will not work with pistols, though.
  • Requires Experimental Warfare Research.
  • Cost: §30, 6 Engineers
  • Tactical Info:
    • Affects conventional weapons only
    • Adds 20% to critical chance against organic targets
    • Doubles the weapon's range penalty

• Respirator Implant
  • We can fabricate a module that will automatically detect chemical and physical threats to a soldier's oxygen supply, and deploy uncomfortable but potentially life-saving oxygen tube shunts in a matter of seconds. This module will fit all of XCOM's armor designs.
  • Requires Seeker Autopsy Research.
  • Cost: §35, 5 Engineers
  • Tactical Info:
    • Confers immunity to poison and Strangle
    • Confers 2 extra health

Foundry Changes (UPDATED)

• The Foundry now gives adjacency bonus if built near a Workshop or the Cybernetics Lab.

New Projects

• Sentinel Drone
  • We've been able to adapt an alien drone into a repair module for the SHIV. While we had to sacrifice its autonomous movement functions, we've been able to retain its repair capability and use its spare AI cycles to improve the SHIV's situational firing heuristics.
  • Requires Drone Autopsy Research.
  • Cost: §80, 10 Engineers, 20 Alloys, 10 Elerium, 7 days.
  • Gives S.H.I.V.s an ability akin to Assault's Close Combat Specialist.

• Tactical Rigging
  • Increasing need for tactical flexibility has driven us to develop tactical rigs that apply to all of XCOM's individual soldier protection systems. These will enable soldiers to bring a second item into battle.
  • Requires Experimental Warfare Research.
  • Cost: §200, 5 Engineers, 4 Days

• Shaped Armor
  • The invaders' mechanized cybersuits are of course somewhat more advanced than our own; by examining the interfaces between the armored shells and the cores, we could improve our overall armor design. This has the potential to increase tactical survivability for all of our mechanized forces.
  • Requires Mechtoid Autopsy Research.
  • Cost: §300, 20 Engineers, 40 Alloys, 20 Elerium, 14 days.
  • Increases MEC stats by 3 HP. S.H.I.V. HP increase unknown.

• Advanced Servomotors
  • After a careful examination we've been able to replicate the articulated joints of the Mechtoid, allowing for mobility improvements on both our cybersuits and SHIV Units.
  • Requires Mechtoid Autopsy Research.
  • Cost: §300, 30 Elerium, 30 Alloys, 20 Engineers, 10 days.

• Elerium Jelly (new project)
  • Using Elerium in tactical situations is quite risky; in the absence of a full sized craft's regulator and fuel management systems, adding it to our flamethrowers would be too dangerous. With some additional investment, though, we could devise a formula to increase flamethrower effectiveness without risking our soldiers.
  • Requires Elerium Research.
  • Cost: §200, 50 Elerium, 15 Engineers, 10 days.

• MEC Close Combat
  • Our advancements in heavy armor technology have enabled us to install better actuators and support structures in the Kinetic Strike Module. This should increase its force output by 50%.
  • Cost: §200, 30 Alloys, 5 Engineers, 7 days.

Officer Training School

• The Iron Will perk now only requires Sergeant rank instead of Major.
• The Don't Die On Me perk has been removed, due to the addition of the Secondary Heart Gene Mod.

• Instead there's a new ability: Lead By Example (§50 cost, Lieutenant rank required) - The squad leader substitutes his or her Will for that of all nearby lower Will squadmates.

Gameplay Changes

Difficulty

• Difficulty in Classic and Impossible modes is slightly increased, according to the developers. Tech costs have been increased dramatically for both levels. Plasma weapons cost will also be increased on these difficulties [14].
• Eliminating the Alien Base now only removes 1 point of panic in all countries rather than 2 on Classic and Impossible difficulties.

Research Times (UPDATED)

• Research times have been increased by +40% on Classic and by 70% on Impossible difficulties.
• This applies to all techs, except:
  • Xenobiology
  • Weapon Fragments
  • Alien Materials
  • Experimental Warfare
  • Meld

Plasma Weapons Cost (UPDATED)

• Building Costs for all plasma weapons have been increased, with the exception of the Plasma Pistol, in the Classic/Impossible difficulties:

Plasma Light Rifle	Plasma Rifle	Alloy Cannon	Heavy Plasma	Plasma Sniper Rifle	Blaster Launcher
Old: §125, 15 Elerium, 20 Alloys New: §180, 30 Elerium, 30 Alloys	Old: §200, 20 Elerium, 30 Alloys New: §300, 40 Elerium, 50 Alloys	Old: §200, 20 Elerium, 50 Alloys New: §300, 40 Elerium, 75 Alloys	Old: §250, 30 Elerium, 30 Alloys New: §375, 60 Elerium, 50 Alloys	Old: §250, 25 Elerium, 30 Alloys New: §375, 60 Elerium, 50 Alloys	Old: §275, 65 Elerium, 50 Alloys New: §400, 120 Elerium, 75 Alloys

New Second Wave options

As seen in the IGN video (0:44) the Second Wave settings menu is now available during a game. Second Wave also has new options:

• Training Roulette - After a soldier is assigned to a class and receives the starting ability the choice of abilities afterwards will be from its own class perks, mixed with abilities from other classes [15]. This applies only to abilities that are not dependent of class weapons, such as Rockets.
• Save Scum – Saving a game will reset the RNG seed for the shots.
• Aiming Angles – the closer you get to flank an alien, the more its cover bonus declines (works also against your soldiers).
• Itchy Trigger Tentacle - non-cover aliens have a 50% chance of firing or going into Overwatch when discovered.
• Mind vs Matter - Psi soldiers can't be gene modded and gene modded soldiers can't be psi tested. [16]

Training Roulette Random Abilities (UPDATED)

All other abilities not listed below are still available as choices on the usual ranks. A Heavy Colonel will still have Rocketeer and Mayhem available, for instance.

• Assault: Aggression, Tactical Sense, Lightning Reflexes, Flush, Bring 'Em On, Close Combat Specialist, Extra Conditioning, Resilience
• Heavy: Bullet Swarm, Holo-Targeting, HEAT Ammo, Rapid Reaction, Grenadier, Will To Survive
• Sniper: Damn Good Ground, Gunslinger, Battle Scanner, Executioner, Opportunist, Low Profile
• Support: Sprinter, Covering Fire, Field Medic, Revive, Deep Pockets, Savior, Sentinel
• Heavy/Support: Suppression

Tactical

• Non-Cover Aliens (Sectopod, Cyberdisc, Mechtoid) will go on Overwatch when they are activated after the soldier who discovered them has finished moving.
• Critical bonus of stealth attacks reduced from 100 to 30, likely to balance out the Ghost Grenade.
• Panicked soldiers will have chance to hit decreased, so friendly fire is less deadly.
• Alien starting areas have been changed. On the Pax Prime video [17] the Outsider starts outside a Small Scout instead of inside.
• The orange sound wave has been replaced with a blue one, while the orange one is now used as a Meld Locater like thing.19:03

New Maps

• Maps: Some maps have been "tweaked", some to address exploding car issues and to add Meld Canisters.
• The old and new maps are mixed together but the game is set so that you'll see more of the new maps during a gameplay.
• There's two new map settings that deal with crashed UFOs in a destroyed city and in a Farm. There's also a Dam map, most from the previously announced Progeny DLC (which will now be included with EW).
• According to this Polish article, there are 47 new maps.
• Snow covered map is clearly visible on the Polygon video and has been confirmed to be used in the final Progeny mission.
• Other maps confirmed by Ananda Gupta during Pax Prime include a Bank, Ice Cream Shop, Road House, Coffee Shop, Construction Site and a new Truck Stop.
• The EXALT demo also revealed a new Tire Shop map (both for Abductions and Covert Operations missions) and an unnamed rainy outdoors map which looks like a combination of forest and construction environments.
• One of the new Council missions appears to be on a coastal whaling station.
• One of images below also shows a snow covered environment.
• Office Paper can now be the site of a terror mission [18].
• There are more ways for soldiers to enter battlefield (for example they can use ropes instead of slowly walking out of Skyranger).
• The Museum map has been removed for both Abductions and the Council mission.
• GasStation and Demolition maps have been replaced by new versions.

List of Maps (UPDATED)

New Maps	Redesigned Maps	Covert Extraction	Covert Data Recovery
Small Scout Farm Small Scout Nuked City Small Scout Roadhouse Large Scout City Pier A Terror Office Paper Terror Portent (Progeny) Deluge (Progeny) Furies (Progeny) EXALT HQ Assault XCOM HQ Assault XCOM HQ Multiplayer Meld Tutorial - a.k.a. Ice Cream Shop Chryssalid Hive	Demolition (EW) Fast Food (EW) - now it is a Bank Office Paper (EW) Highway Construction (EW) Street Overpass (EW) Gas Station (EW) Research Outpost (EW) Convienience Store (EW) Truck Stop (EW) Commercial Alley (EW)	Military Ammo Liquor Store Trainyard Highway Construction (EW) Convienience Store (EW) PierA Terror Street Overpass (EW) Commercial Alley (EW) Research Outpost (EW) Portent	Industrial Office Rooftops Const Boulevard Gas Station (EW) Truck Stop (EW) Demolition (EW) Highway Construction Office Paper (EW) Police Station Commercial Restaurant

Council Extraction Mission Map

• Street Hurricane Terror now replaces the Museum map (which has been completely removed on EW) for the Thomas Hutch mission.

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• 

New Missions

Operation Progeny (UPDATED)

• In this interview [19], EW's lead designer, Ananda Gupta has confirmed that Progeny, the 2nd planned (and cancelled) DLC, which adds a new Council campaign like Slingshot is included with Enemy Within.
• Both Slingshot and Progeny can be played on the same playthrough.
• Gupta also said that the Progeny narrative has suffered changes to adapt it more with the EW expansion.
  • Progeny introduces Annette, a French character who is kidnapped from French protection by EXALT, and the 3 missions involving her will include both EXALT and the Aliens at some point.
  • Annette has a special power that makes her interesting to XCOM, the aliens and EXALT. Annette seems to appear on the Security Breach trailer.
• If the operation is successful Annette can become a soldier that the player can control, like Zhang on Slingshot.
  • There is a possibility that she may not always be recruited after the Operation.
• The first mission are in April and the last two will be in "interesting places".
• According Ananda Gupta about Slingshot and Progeny [20]: "they have different triggers. The first part of Progeny happens early. Prob done w/Slingshot by the time Progeny part 2 happens".
• Progeny consists of 3 missions:
  • Portent
  • Deluge
  • Furies

• Successfully completing Progeny can give you Annette as a Support Psionic soldier, plus 3 additional soldiers, all Lieutenant rank and gifted.

XCOM HQ Base Defense

• Base Defense against the aliens has been confirmed on this video and this one.
• While scanning for activity sections of the XCOM HQ will start being attacked by humans and you'll have to defend against an alien attack using a random group of soldiers consisting combat veterans and rookies (base security personnel). A section of the base has been cut off and you'll have to defend it from the aliens until reinforcements can arrive. The aliens will attack in waves.
• If you lose the mission you'll lose the game. IGN video, around 40:00.
• Your combat soldiers are equipped with what they have at the moment in the Barracks for their last mission and the base security will have conventional weapons. You'll get 3 waves of reinforcements each time the security door is opened.
• The aliens will invade Delta section through 4 locations: Command Center/Rear Guard Station/Mech Bay/Forward Access Tunnel
• At the end of the mission Bradford will comment that "we still need to find how this was possible", which may imply a new story subarc related to the Base Defense mission.
• Base Defense takes place in May.
• Mission Briefing - Operation Ashes and Temples
  • The invaders have infiltrated XCOM HQ in unknown numbers. Limited reinforcements, including XCOM Base Security personnel, are available. Failure will mean the end of XCOM.
• Mission Objectives
  • Eliminate all alien forces within XCOM HQ
    • Reinforcements are currently unavailable
    • Latest alien wave in *location*.

• 

  The Ethereal seems about to escape Alien Containment

• 

  The Skyranger gets thrashed

• 

  Bradford about to shoot a mind controlled XCOM technician

Council Missions

• Site Recon - Our sources indicate a developing incident in Newfoundland, up the coast from St. John's. A fishing village has gone dark: reports from intel sources suggest alien involvement. We should send a team to investigate the site and figure out what happened.
  • This mission involves a Chryssalids hive. According to Gupta: "C-Hive is always the first Council mission after you fight them for 1st time, the 1st time you play. After that, it joins the random pool"[21]

Interface Changes

• There is an inventory button to strip away all items from Soldiers not in the squad lineup ("Make items available").
• You can now personalize your soldier's voice according to its nationality (French soldiers can speak in French or any other language) using the available audio packs for the current language editions (following languages were confirmed: Spanish, German, Italian, French, Polish, Russian). The personalisation applies to soldiers nicknames as well. The game footage released has nicknames such as Tirailleur (French for skirmisher), Unruhe (German for Restless) and Maestro (Italian for Master).
• Memorial (place where you see fallen soldiers) will have additional information shown: cause of death.
• A.C. Clarke's quote at the beginning of the game has been replaced with one from the futurist Buckminster Fuller: Those who play with the devil’s toys will be brought by degrees to wield his sword.
• Color customization options now apply also to weapons being carried by the soldier, as well as armor.
  • MEC Troopers have a new customization feature allowing to choose between tiger stripes, flames or spiral decorations.
  • More helmets, armor decos and colors.

Advanced Options

Before starting a game it is possible to choose between a number of options:

• Tutorial
• Meld Tutorial
• Operation Slingshot
• Operation Progeny
• Ironman
• Reduced Beginner VO - To shut up Drs. Vahlen and Shen.

New Steam Achievements

The following achievements were added to Steam on September 13th (link here [22]

MECs and GMods

• Anger Management

Proc Combat Rush on the entire squad (min. 4)

• Rise of the Machines

Field a squad consisting entirely of augmented soldiers and SHIVs (min. 4) and win the mission

• Mutatis Mutandis

Field a squad where all members have at least two modifications (min. 4) and win the mission

• Mental Minefield

Kill an enemy as it is psionically attacking you in single player

• Tingling Sensation

Kill an unseen enemy detected by a specially modified soldier in single player

• Steel Martyr

Deploy three tactical subsystems on a single soldier in single player

• Enemy Within

Get a Soldier to have 5 modifications in single player

• Who Needs Limbs?

Augment a soldier in single player

• A Little Bit Alien

Modify a soldier in single player

• Mind the Step

Jump two stories in one move in single player

• Someone Your Own Size

Kill a Muton Berserker in melee combat in single player

• The Meld Squad

Field a fully enhanced squad and win the mission

• By Our Powers Combined

Field a squad with 4 augmented soldiers, each with a different base ability and win the mission

• Nice Cover

Use Collateral Damage to blow up a car in single playe

Mechtoids and Seekers

• Taking A Load Off

Stop a squad member from suffocating in single player

• Shieldbuster

Eliminate an enemy's shield and kill it on the same turn in single player

Gameplay

• Guardian of Earth

Designate a highly decorated soldier as the Volunteer

• Pain in the Neck

Cause an enemy to suicide

• An Army Of Four

Beat the game without buying a Squad Size upgrade (Classic+ difficulty)

Operation Progeny

• Solid Prospect - Progeny (Slingshot type Council mission)

Complete Deluge

• Ours are the Furies - Progeny (Slingshot type Council mission)

Complete Furies

EXALT

• Remington… Max Remington

Have your special-duty soldier kill three enemies in the same mission

• Elite Defense

Beat a new special mission without losing any assets

• G’day

Kill an elite enemy Sniper with one of your own snipers in single player

• Regenerate This

Kill an elite enemy Medic with explosive damage in single player

• Apotheosis Denied

Deal with the newest global threat

• Where in the World

Make certain of the new threat's location

Base Defense

• All Hands on Deck

Get at least 4 kills with XCOM Base Security personnel

• They Shall Not Pass

Eliminate all alien waves

Council

• Zom-B-Gone

Eradicate the infestation

Bug Fixes

Several issues have been fixed, including Line of Sight.

• Teleporting of aliens has been removed.
• Flanking bugs have been fixed.
  • This includes the 'glitch' of a cornered alien that's flanked and being Overwatched going into "panic" and no longer taking actions.

Modding

• In one of the interviews there's a mention by the lead designer that they moved more settings to the game's .INI files rather than the Unreal script to help modders.

Multiplayer

• You can now edit your squad on offline mode.
• 8 more maps for Multiplayer.
• Grenades/Rockets and XCOM Rookies cost have been reduced, because they're considered overpriced.
• EXALT units can be used.

Bureau Easter Eggs

• Enemy Within will have Easter Eggs related to The Bureau: XCOM Declassified.
  • Gupta has mentioned trying to rename your soldiers, most likely giving them the name William Carter will bring forth an XCOM Hero.
  • Carter's hat is now available as a new hair style
  • The Meld Recombination research project (Game Trailers video at 1:04) states on the project results description: "While searching our records for any references to a material with similar properties, I uncovered a number of redacted data stores created in the 1960s, but much of that information appears to be lost".