Mixed Crew

Unlike in the first X-COM game, where each UFO crew consists of only one race, some Alien Submarines in X-COM: Terror From The Deep are manned by Mixed crews.

The Mixed Crew "race"

A "Mixed" crew classification on an Alien Sub means that its crew consists of a mix of alien races, including Tasoths, Aquatoids and up to four different types of Terror Unit.

In game terms, Mixed crews are treated as the fifth alien "race". When the game assigns ranks to a Mixed crew, the Soldier and Squad Leader slots will be filled by the appropriate Tasoths, while the other ranks (Navigator, Technician, etc.) are instead filled with a mixture of Aquatoids and various Terror Units.

To summarize, mixed crews comprise:

1. Tasoth Soldiers: always present, these form the majority of weapon-using Aliens.

2. Tasoth Squad Leaders: present on all Mixed crew subs except Survey Ships, but only one or two are usually encountered.

3. Aquatoid Soldiers: one or two will appear on the larger Alien subs.

4. Aquatoid Squad Leaders: interestingly, these are slightly more common than the Soldiers.

5. Tentaculats: present on Battleships (in large numbers) and Dreadnoughts (lower numbers, possibly none on lower difficulty settings) if X-COM downs and assaults them.

6. Hallucinoids: also present on Battleships (only one) and Dreadnoughts (a few) if X-COM downs and assaults them.

7. Random mixture of Bio-Drones and Triscenes: replace Tentaculats on land.

8. Random mixture of Xarquids and Calcinites: replace Hallucinoids on land.

Mixed crews normally perform only Alien Surface Attack (terror) missions, but may also launch Floating Base Attacks if X-COM provokes them by downing their subs. As Mixed crew missions tend to show up late into the game, they can be a backpath to obtaining a Calcinite if X-COM failed to capture one during the early months.

Note that Triscenes can be encountered exclusively as part of Mixed crews.

Although they appear to be aquatic Aliens, Xarquids are present as part of some Mixed crew missions on the surface and can even "fly" there. This is likely a bug - it is possible that these were intended to be Deep Ones instead.

Unless X-COM detected the Alien Sub using a Transmission Resolver, it may not be immediately apparent that they are facing a Mixed crew, as the aliens can be mistaken for Tasoths at first glance. In comparison to "pure" Tasoth crews, Mixed crews deploy more types of terrorists and a slightly greater number of them; on the other hand, the weapon-carrying aliens are slightly weaker overall and fewer of them are M.C. capable (usually only 1 or 2).

Other appearances of Mixed crews

Mixed crews also man certain key Alien sites. These are described below.

Alien Colonies

The way alien colonies are crewed in TFTD differs slightly from UFO. Where UFO bases will be manned and supplied by the same species as the construction crew, in TFTD colonies are always guarded by the same a mixture of alien types, regardless of which race does the supply runs:

• The topside (1st stage) of an Alien Colony is always manned by the Mixed crew "race", meaning a mixture of Tasoths and Aquatoids accompanied by Tentaculats and Hallucinoids.
• The interior (2nd stage) of an Alien colony is always manned by the Lobster Men and their usual underwater Terror Units, the Tentaculats.

The crew of the Fleet Supply Cruisers will be the same as the crew of the aliens that established the colony. For example, if Gillmen do the scouting and construction of the colony, they will also be responsible for the supply runs.

Artefact Sites

Both stages of an Artefact Site feature the Mixed Crew "race", i.e. a mixture of Tasoths and Aquatoids accompanied by Tentaculats and Hallucinoids. Note that, due to an insufficient number of spawn points, Hallucinoids, Tentaculats, and occasionally even Aquatoids may fail to spawn on first stage of the mission.

T'leth

T'leth is manned by a unique crew:

• The 1st stage is manned by Aquatoids and their usual underwater associates, the Hallucinoids.
• The 2nd and 3rd stages are manned by a unique set of aliens, which is different than the usual Mixed "race" and is detailed in the article on that mission.

Note

In some online sources, as well as in older versions of this article, you will find reference to the existence of two different types of Mixed Crew "races" that can run missions, where the other "race" consists of Lobster Men accompanied by Aquatoids and various terrorists. This is not correct, as the second Mixed Crew "race" is used only for generating the aliens on the lower levels of T'leth and does not feature in any missions before then.