Alien Life Forms (Long War)

A Chryssalid squad leader compared to its smaller brethren.

Much like in vanilla, aliens deploy in "pods", which are "activated" by seeing them. Unlike in vanilla, alien pods are frequently made up of several different types of aliens, such as a Thin Man leading some Sectoids, or some Mutons with Floater scout.

Each "pod" will be led by one squad leader alien, possessing both improved stats and new abilities. Each leader has a chance to be accompanied by a navigator alien in addition to its other podmates which usually acts as a scouting unit of sorts, often possessing perks suitable for this role. Squad leaders can easily be identified by their larger health pool and increased physical size.

The aliens will continually improve their technology as the war goes on, which will grant them extra stats, HP regen and in some cases unlock new abilities. Squad Leader and Navigator perks are unlocked in the order in which they have been recorded here. Please note that the maximum stats for each species listed below can only apply to squad leaders of that species with all possible upgrades. Abilities tagged with an asterisk(*) are only unlocked on regular aliens during later stages of the war.

Sectoid

Appears
Normal	March
Terror	-
Damage	{{{damage}}}
HP	3-20
Defense	0-15
Aim	65-115
Crit Chance	{{{crit}}}
Movement	12
Will	5-105

Sectoids behave in much the same way as you'd expect from vanilla, with low Mobility, HP and Aim, and mediocre Will. Basic Sectoids have access to a few more psionic powers than before, being able to Mind Merge, Mind Fray and Psi Panic. The good news is that Mind Fray has been altered to only do 1 damage. Be aware that Mind Merge has been altered so it does some damage to the merged target if the merger dies, but doesn't kill outright. Sectoid squad leaders get the Low Profile perk.

Sectoid Armaments

Weapon	Base Damage	Critical Damage	Critical Chance
Sectoid Plasma Pistol	3-5	4 to 6	0
Upgraded Sectoid Plasma Pistol I	4-6	6 to 9	0
Upgraded Sectoid Plasma Pistol II	5-7	8 to 11	0
Upgraded Sectoid Plasma Pistol III	6-8	9 to 12	0

Sectoid Abilities

Ability	Description
Suppression	Can fire a special shot that grants reaction fire at a single target if it moves. The target also suffers a -30 Aim penalty and limited AOE range.
Mind Merge	Psionically assist an ally, granting the ally an array of stat bonuses.
Mind Fray	Causes the target to lose grip on reality, inflicting penalties to Aim, Will, mobility and AOE range, as well as doing 1 base damage. Robotic units are immune. Lasts 2 turns. 1 turn cooldown.
Psi Panic	Cause target to panic if the target's Will is overcome. Robotic enemies are immune. 2 turn cooldown.

Possible Squad Leader Abilities

Ability	Description
Low Profile	Makes partial cover count as full.
Gunslinger	Confers +1 extra damage to all pistol type weapons. Furthermore eliminates any range penalties for pistols.
Bring 'Em On	Grants +1 damage on critical hits for each enemy that the squad can see. (Up to +5)
Rapid Reaction	Allows an additional shot to be fired on Overwatch if the first Overwatch shot hits.
Opportunist	Negates aim penalties for Overwatch shots.
Regeneration	Allows the unit to restore a small amount of HP each turn. Amount increases based on alien tech progression.
Combined Arms	Allows the squad that this unit belongs to to ignore 1 point of DR.

Possible Navigator Abilities

Ability	Description
Low Profile	Makes partial cover count as full.
Regeneration	Allows the unit to restore a small amount of HP each turn. Amount increases based on alien tech progression.

Drone

Appears
Normal	March
Terror	-
Damage	{{{damage}}}
HP	3-56
Defense	0-20
Aim	60-100
Crit Chance	{{{crit}}}
Movement	12-14
Flight Fuel	32
Will	0

Drones will be encountered right from the beginning of the game, even in the first mission. They can come in groups of their own or attached to Sectoid squads, and later they will accompany more powerful mechanized units like Cyberdiscs and Sectopods. Drones behave similarly to vanilla, but, like most mechanized units, have some damage reduction. Their constant light cover from flying with damage reduction and ability to mutually repair can make them extremely frustrating to kill. Drones have Holo-Targeting, making them a bit more dangerous when supporting other aliens.

Drone Armaments

Weapon	Base Damage	Critical Damage	Critical Chance
Drone Beam	1-3	3 to 5	0
Upgraded Drone Beam I	2-4	3 to 6	0
Upgraded Drone Beam II	3-5	5 to 8	0

Drone Abilities

Ability	Description
Repair	Repairs robotic units.
Overload	Overload the unit's own power source, destroying the unit but causing explosive damage similar to a grenade's..
Flight	Flying units can bypass ground obstacles. They can remain in flight if they have sufficient fuel.
Evasion	Enemies targeting this unit when it is airborne suffer a -20% Aim penalty.
Hardened	Confers extra protection against critical hits. Enemies suffer a -60% chance to inflict critical hits.

Possible Squad Leader Abilities

Ability	Description
Holo-Targeting	Shooting at or suppressing enemies also confers a +10 Aim to any allies' attacks on those enemies.
Absorption Fields	Reduces most incoming damage to this unit, scaling up as the damage increases.
Light 'Em Up	Firing the primary weapon as the first action of your turn no longer ends your turn.

Possible Navigator Abilities

Ability	Description
Holo-Targeting	Shooting at or suppressing enemies also confers a +10 Aim to any allies' attacks on those enemies.

Outsider

Appears
Normal	March
Terror	-
Damage	{{{damage}}}
HP	10-33
Defense	0-25
Aim	75-130
Crit Chance	{{{crit}}}
Movement	12-18
Will	20

Long War Outsiders are enormously more dangerous than vanilla Outsiders. They start with 10 HP and 3 HP regeneration per turn, meaning it will take a concerted effort from the whole squad to take them down early game. Like vanilla, Outsiders are mostly found in charge of UFOs, usually holed up on the bridge, but not always. You should be careful not to activate a UFO's Outsider until you're ready for it, since their HP regen means they can easily take on 1 or 2 XCOM soldiers without even taking damage. On larger UFOs Outsiders spawn in larger groups than in vanilla.

When you first meet them, fighting Outsiders in a war of attrition across cover is a bad idea, since their HP regen and relatively high damage and accuracy with their plasma carbines means they may well win. Neutralising the Outsider with flashbangs and suppression while you move your troops up to set up for a one turn kill is more effective. Note that their regenerative abilities will increase over the course of your game.

Outsider Armaments

Weapon	Base Damage	Critical Damage	Critical Chance
Outsider Light Plasma Rifle	4-6	7 to 9	10
Upgraded Outsider Light Plasma Rifle I	5-7	8 to 11	10
Upgraded Outsider Light Plasma Rifle II	6-8	9 to 12	10
Upgraded Outsider Light Plasma Rifle III	7-9	11 to 14	10
Upgraded Outsider Light Plasma Rifle IV	8-10	12 to 15	20

Outsider Abilities

Ability	Description
Suppression	Can fire a special shot that grants reaction fire at a single target if it moves. The target also suffers a -30 Aim penalty and limited AOE range.
Regeneration	Allows the unit to restore a small amount of HP each turn. Amount increases based on alien tech progression.

Possible Squad Leader Abilities

Ability	Description
Ready for Anything	If the unit shoots without using another action, it automatically enters Overwatch at the end of the turn.
Squadsight	Allows firing at targets in any ally's sight radius within weapon range. Non-Sniper rifles gain roughly +5 tiles of extra range.

Notes

• While Outsiders themselves do not have navigators, it is possible for them to appear alongside a navigator of another species.
• Spotting an Outsider during a UFO landing will cause the remaining contingent of the crew to advance towards you. This does not only include the commanding crew of said ship, but also any randomly spawned Outsiders that you may encounter.
• Outsiders will gain additional DR as the game progresses, up to a maximum of +3.

Thin Man

Appears
Normal	March
Terror	-
Damage	{{{damage}}}
HP	5-33
Defense	0-25
Aim	70-135
Crit Chance	{{{crit}}}
Movement	15
Will	15-46

Thin Men are quite similar to vanilla, with high mobility, mediocre aim and low Will. The main change is that their poison has been replaced with Acid, which lowers aim and mobility as poison does, and affected units take slightly more damage from attacks, but acid no longer causes damage directly. Instead, acid inflicts damage to a victim as they take actions, so moving, reloading, firing, overwatch, etc will all cause an affected unit to take 1 damage (dashing will cause 2 damage). A unit that goes on overwatch will take the damage when they go on overwatch, not when they fire. Hunkering Down is safe and a unit that simply remains still and hunkered for the duration of acid will take no damage at all. Acid clouds dissipate within 2 turns and the acid debuff lasts 2-5 turns. Robotic units and soldiers with medikits or sealed armour are immune to the mobility effects of acid and won't take damage from actions, but will still take more damage from attacks and have reduced aim while affected by acid.

Thin Man Abilities

Ability	Description
Suppression	Can fire a special shot that grants reaction fire at a single target if it moves. The target also suffers a -30 Aim penalty and limited AOE range.
Poison Spit	Spit poison at long range, causing a noxious cloud to remain briefly on the battlefield.
Leap	Allows vertical leaps onto elevated surfaces during movement.
Adaptive Bone Marrow*	Unit regenerates 2 HP per turn up to the HP max without armor. Amount increases for alien units based on alien tech progression.

Possible Squad Leader Abilities

Ability	Description
Executioner	Confers +10 aim and +10 critical hit chance against targets at or below 50% of their health.
Close Encounters	The first standard shot made within 4 tiles of the target does not cost an action. Cannot combine with Run And Gun.
32px Sharpshooter	Confers +10 critical hit chance at all times and an additional +10 aim against targets behind full-cover.
Bombard	Throw or launch grenades over exceptionally long distances. Also affects the range of Thin Man acid.
Squadsight	Allows firing at targets in any ally's sight radius within weapon range. Non-Sniper rifles gain roughly +5 tiles of extra range.
Rapid Reaction	Allows an additional shot to be fired on Overwatch if the first Overwatch shot hits.
Sprinter	Grants 3 additional points of movement to the unit.
Lightning Reflexes	The accuracy of the first Overwatch shot that this unit recieves has a -90% aim penalty, while all subsequent Overwatch shots recieve a -70% penalty to hit this unit.
Aggression	Confers +10% critical chance per enemy in sight (max +30%).
Tactical Sense	Confers +5 Defense per enemy in sight (max +20).
Combined Arms	Allows the squad that this unit belongs to to ignore 1 point of DR.

Possible Navigator Abilities

Ability	Description
Executioner	Confers +10 aim and +10 critical hit chance against targets at or below 50% of their health.
Damn Good Ground	+10 Aim and +10 Defense against enemies at lower elevation in addition to the usual elevation bonuses.
Sprinter	Grants 3 additional points of movement to the unit.
Lightning Reflexes	The accuracy of the first Overwatch shot that this unit recieves has a -90% aim penalty, while all subsequent Overwatch shots recieve a -70% penalty to hit this unit.
Regeneration	Allows the unit to restore a small amount of HP each turn. Amount increases based on alien tech progression.
Squadsight	Allows firing at targets in any ally's sight radius within weapon range. Non-Sniper rifles gain roughly +5 tiles of extra range.

Notes

• Since they do not possess any armor, adaptive bone marrow will restore up to their maximum health.

Floater

Appears
Normal	March
Terror	-
Damage	{{{damage}}}
HP	5-45
Defense	0-15
Aim	70-132
Crit Chance	{{{crit}}}
Movement	15
Flight Fuel	32
Will	15-50

Floaters behave identically to vanilla floaters. Floater squad leaders gain the Damn Good Ground ability, which, given their ability to fly, makes them significantly more dangerous than regular floaters.

Floater Abilities

Ability	Description
Suppression	Can fire a special shot that grants reaction fire at a single target if it moves. The target also suffers a -30 Aim penalty.
Flight	Flying units can bypass ground obstacles. They can remain in flight if they have sufficient fuel.
Launch	Move anywhere on the battlefield in a single turn. Launch cannot be used indoors. Will end the Floater's turn.
Evasion	Enemies targeting this unit when it is airborne suffer a -20% Aim penalty.

Possible Squad Leader Abilities

Ability	Description
Damn Good Ground	+10 Aim and +10 Defense against enemies at lower elevation in addition to the usual elevation bonuses.
Close Combat Specialist	Confers a reaction shot against any enemy who closes to within 4 tiles. Does not require Overwatch.
Danger Zone	Increases area of effect for Suppression, rocket launchers and offensive grenades.
Sprinter	Grants 3 additional points of movement to the unit.
Mayhem	Confers additional damage based on weapon tech level to Suppression and all area-effect abilities.
Ready for Anything	If the unit shoots without using another action, it automatically enters Overwatch at the end of the turn.
Regeneration	Allows the unit to restore a small amount of HP each turn. Amount increases based on alien tech progression.
Aggression	Confers +10% critical chance per enemy in sight (max +30%).
Tactical Sense	Confers +5 Defense per enemy in sight (max +20).
Combined Arms	Allows the squad that this unit belongs to to ignore 1 point of DR.

Possible Navigator Abilities

Ability	Description
Danger Zone	Increases area of effect for Suppression, rocket launchers and offensive grenades.

Chryssalid

Appears
Normal	March
Terror	-
Damage	8-23
HP	8-62
Defense	10-30
Aim	∞
Crit Chance	{{{crit}}}
Movement	20-25
Will	120

Chryssalids are similar to vanilla Chryssalids. A big difference is that Chryssalid squad leaders have Lightning Reflexes, which can seriously reduce the amount of damage a charging Chryssalid squad will take from overwatch fire since the squad leader moves first, and is thus the most likely to trigger overwatch fire depending on positioning. Like Thin Men, the Chryssalid's claw poison has been replaced with acid.

AP/frag grenades are an effective early counter to Chryssalids, since they'll frequently charge in a tightly packed group on first sight, and the grenades will do full damage since Chryssalids don't benefit from cover. Similarly, flashbangs can debilitate a whole group of Chryssalids by reducing their move by half, which brings it considerably under the range a flashbang can be thrown. Chryssalids are immune to acid, so Chem Grenades won't reduce their mobility. Taking out the Chryssalid leader will make reaction fire effective against them; a Close Combat Specialist Assault can frequently finish off leaderless Chryssalids. The MEC Flamethrower is also quite effective; aside from the damage (especially with the Jellied Elerium upgrade) it can cause the Chryssalids to panic, and they may then run away from your soldiers instead of towards them.

Chryssalids on a terror mission will always spawn Zombies from civilians they kill offscreen - normally, this only occurred on higher difficulties in vanilla. As such, expect to have to deal with many additional zombies during terror missions that focus on the deployment of chryssalids. Additionally, Chryssalid pods may occasionally contain a number of Zombie units regardless of the mission type.

Some Chryssalid Squad Leaders may be particularly large. Beware, as these monsters often have upwards of 40-50 health on top of the fact they are escorted by several more chryssalids and have augmented damage.

Chryssalid Abilities

Ability	Description
Implant	Victims are implanted with a Chryssalid egg if they are killed by a Chryssalid's attack (not from poison caused by Poisonous Claws). Implanted victims will spawn a Zombie on the next turn; The Zombie can move and attack on the turn it emerges.
Poisonous Claws	Has a chance to apply acid to enemies wounded with melee attacks.
Leap	Allows vertical leaps onto elevated surfaces during movement.
Hardened	Confers extra protection against critical hits. Enemies suffer a -60% chance to inflict critical hits.
Adaptive Bone Marrow*	Unit regenerates 2 HP per turn up to the HP max without armor. Amount increases for alien units based on alien tech progression.

Possible Squad Leader Abilities

Ability	Description
Lightning Reflexes	The accuracy of the first Overwatch shot that this unit recieves has a -90% aim penalty, while all subsequent Overwatch shots recieve a -70% penalty to hit this unit.
Regeneration	Allows the unit to restore a small amount of HP each turn. Amount increases based on alien tech progression.'
Sprinter	Grants 3 additional points of movement to the unit.
Shock-Absorbent Armor	Damage received from enemies within 4 tiles is reduced by 33%.

Possible Navigator Abilities

Ability	Description
Regeneration	Allows the unit to restore a small amount of HP each turn. Amount increases based on alien tech progression.

Zombie

Appears
Normal	March
Terror	-
Damage	7-14
HP	12-23
Defense	0
Aim	∞
Crit Chance	{{{crit}}}
Movement	9-13
Will	120

Not even zombies are immune to getting tweaked in Long War - At first, they become faster, and later tougher, whilst their melee damage steadily ramps up over time. They can occasionally spawn as a member of Chryssalid pods on any mission, and it is also be possible to encounter them as a special pod spawn during Terror missions, in which four to five identical zombies will spawn in a group. Unlike regular zombies, the members of this zombie 'pack' do not seem to spawn chryssalids if left to their own devices for too long.

Zombies that have been spawned through a victim implanted by a Chryssalid will spawn a "baby" Chryssalid after two turns, easily recognized by their slightly pink skin color. This Chryssalid variant will have the same stats as an adult Chryssalid and can both move and attack during the turn it emerges. It will furthermore always emerge at full health regardless of how much damage the Zombie has taken.

Zombie Abilities

Ability	Description
Regeneration*	Allows the unit to restore a small amount of HP each turn. Amount increases based on alien tech progression.'

Seeker

Appears
Normal	March
Terror	-
Damage	{{{damage}}}
HP	4-53
Defense	0-15
Aim	65-89
Crit Chance	{{{crit}}}
Movement	16-22
Flight Fuel	32
Will	0

Seekers can be found both in pods made up entirely of Seekers, and accompanying squads of other aliens. This indirectly makes them more dangerous than vanilla, since a Seeker itself isn't much threat, but a Seeker supporting other aliens can be a deadly distraction. Seekers have had the shackles taken off their AI, and will happily decloak and strangle 4 of your soldiers at once. As mechanized units they have some damage reduction, which makes them difficult to damage with low power weapons like pistols and carbines. Seekers only cause 1 initial damage when strangling, but this damage doubles every turn they remain attached, so quickly knocking a Seeker off will result in minimal damage, but if left it will cause massive damage in 3-4 turns.

Battle Scanners are available to any soldier as carried items in Long War, giving an early counter to Seekers. They have a habit of going into Overwatch while in stealth, so if you're waiting out Seekers without a Battle Scanner, try moving a soldier, one might reveal itself to take a pot shot at you. Ground-hugging Seekers can also be 'detected' by scanning for seemingly empty tiles that cannot be moved into; any explosive/area effect attacks (bar the MEC Flamethrower; Seekers are fireproof - though an 'IMMUNE' popup will still appear) that catch an invisible seeker in their area will force them to decloak.

If Seekers have no valid targets for their strangulation attack (as MECs and SHIVs are immune, and several armours and items grant immunity also), they will most often go into Overwatch, or rarely attempt to flank soldiers in cover and try to score a critical hit with their plasma gun. In Terror missions, they prefer to hunt down any remaining civilians if all XCOM units are immune; if a Seeker is the last enemy active on a terror mission, focus on rescuing the civilians. Once the Seeker has no civilian targets remaining, its AI will switch to focusing on the squad instead.

Seeker Abilities

Ability	Description
Stealth	The Seeker becomes invisible to enemies. It can use its tentacles to attack from stealth mode but it must deactivate stealth mode to use its ranged attack.
Strangle	Strangle can be used against adjacent humans unprotected by strangle-resistant armor, items or abilities.
Flight	Flying units can bypass ground obstacles. They can remain in flight if they have sufficient fuel.
Evasion	Enemies targeting this unit when it is airborne suffer a -20% Aim penalty.

Possible Squad Leader Abilities

Ability	Description
Unlimited Stealth	The Seeker becomes invisible to enemies. It can use its tentacles to attack from stealth mode but it must deactivate stealth mode to use its ranged attack. Can be activated as many times as necessary during a mission.
Holo-Targeting	Shooting at or suppressing enemies also confers a +10 Aim to any allies' attacks on those enemies.
Repair Servos	Repairs up to 50% of damage taken (max 2 per turn). Additional damage taken before repairs are complete reduces how much can be repaired.
Automated Threat Assessment	Confers +15 Defense when on Overwatch. Cancelled as soon as the unit fires a reaction shot.
Platform Stability	Any shots taken without moving have +10 Aim and +10% critical chance.
Shock-Absorbent Armor	Damage received from enemies within 4 tiles is reduced by 33%.
Close Encounters	The first standard shot made within 4 tiles of the target does not cost an action. Cannot combine with Run And Gun.

Possible Navigator Abilities

Ability	Description
Unlimited Stealth	The Seeker becomes invisible to enemies. It can use its tentacles to attack from stealth mode but it must deactivated stealth mode to use its ranged attack. Can be activated as many times as necessary during a mission.

Muton

Appears
Normal	March
Terror	-
Damage	{{{damage}}}
HP	8-40
Defense	10-29
Aim	70-110
Crit Chance	{{{crit}}}
Movement	12
Will	10-47

Mutons are similar to vanilla Mutons, and will start with Plasma Carbines and later upgrade to Plasma Rifles. Muton squad leaders have significantly more HP than regular Mutons, as well as a number of Overwatch enhancing perks.

Muton Abilities

Ability	Description
Suppression	Can fire a special shot that grants reaction fire at a single target if it moves. The target also suffers a -30 Aim penalty.
Blood Call	Unleash a bestial roar that inspires nearby allies of the same species to greater speed, focus, and resolve for 2 turns. 4 turns cooldown. Will affect also nearby Beserkers and Muton Elites and gives +10 Will/Aim and +4 Movement.
Intimidate	Reacts unpredictably when wounded, provoking panic in enemies. Provokes a Will test on the enemy unit responsible for the wound. If the enemy fails the Will test it will panic.

Possible Squad Leader Abilities

Ability	Description
Covering Fire	Allows reaction shot to trigger on enemy attacks, not just movement.
Opportunist	Eliminates the Aim penalty on reaction shots, and allows reaction shots to cause critical hits.
Heat Warheads	Rockets and grenades do additional damage to robotic enemies.
Bombard	Throw or launch grenades over exceptionally long distances.
Will to Survive	Reduces all normal damage taken by 1.5 if in cover and not flanked.
Sentinel	Allows two reaction shots during Overwatch, instead of only one.
Light 'Em Up	Firing with the first action no longer ends turn.
Aggression	Confers +10% critical chance per enemy in sight (max +30%).
Tactical Sense	Confers +5 Defense per enemy in sight (max +20).
Combined Arms	Allows the squad that this unit belongs to to ignore 1 point of DR.

Possible Navigator Abilities

Ability	Description
Covering Fire	Allows reaction shot to trigger on enemy attacks, not just movement.
Hyper Reactive Pupils	Confers +10 Aim to any shot after a miss.
Depth Perception	Height Advantage confers an additional +5 Aim and +5 critical chance.
Squadsight	Allows firing at targets in any ally's sight radius within weapon range. Non-Sniper rifles gain roughly +5 tiles of extra range.

Cyberdisc

Appears
Normal	March
Terror	-
Damage	{{{damage}}}
HP	18-55
Defense	0
Aim	70-92
Crit Chance	{{{crit}}}
Movement	18-21
Flight Fuel	32
Will	0

Cyberdiscs are similar to vanilla Cyberdiscs; even their deployment behaviour is largely unchanged. They get the Automated Threat Assessment perk, which given their habit of immediately going on overwatch when seen will often give them extra defense at least for the first turn. Cyberdiscs are usually accompanied by two to three drones, and usually prefer to throw their grenade if an eligible soldier is in range rather than shooting.

Cyberdiscs pose a significant threat throughout the game. Early on their high health pool makes them difficult to kill unless you have more than one soldier with HEAT ammo/warheads, or a soldier with Shredder ammo/rockets. Their movement range can take you off guard as it's close to that of a chryssalid; if they're not dealt with quickly or retreated from, they are very likely to flank and hit you with raw firepower, move up next to you and use their powerful Death Blossom attack, or simply fire long-range explosives at you. In the later months Cyberdiscs gain the Reactive Targeting Sensors perk, allowing them to return fire.

The drones escorting a Cyberdisc are of course more dangerous as well (see the main Drone entry), primarily because they can tag a target with Holo Targeting, making it easier for the parent Cyberdisc (and any other enemies, for that matter) to hit the victim. Drones can be distracted by damaging the Cyberdisc (in which case they will fly back to repair it) but this is hardly an ideal strategy.

One important note about the Cyberdisc is that they only have the "Hardened" trait as long as they're closed. A Cyberdisc must open up in order to attack with its cannons or grenade, and will immediately return to closed form if hit by an incoming attack.

Cyberdisc Abilities

Ability	Description
Hardened	Confers extra protection against critical hits. Enemies suffer a -60% chance to inflict critical hits.
Flight	Flying units can bypass ground obstacles. They can remain in flight if they have sufficient fuel.
Evasion	Enemies targeting this unit when it is airborne suffer a -20% Aim penalty.
Death Blossom	Project an intense energy field from Closed position, damaging all nearby enemies.

Possible Squad Leader Abilities

Ability	Description
Automated Threat Assessment	Confers +15 Defense when on Overwatch. Cancelled as soon as the unit fires a reaction shot.
Bombard	Throw or launch grenades over exceptionally long distances.
Damage Control	When this unit takes damage, all further damage will be reduced by 1 or 2 points for the next 2 turns.
Repair Servos	Repairs up to 50% of damage taken (max 2 per turn). Additional damage taken before repairs are complete reduces how much can be repaired.
Aggression	Confers +10% critical chance per enemy in sight (max +30%).
Reactive Targeting Sensors	Units with this perk get a free shot back at the first enemy who attacks it each turn, providing there's enough ammo to do so.
Light 'Em Up	Firing with the first action no longer ends turn.
Combined Arms	Allows the squad that this unit belongs to to ignore 1 point of DR.

Notes

• While Cyberdiscs themselves do not have navigators, it is possible for them to appear alongside a navigator of another species.
• Cyberdiscs will gain additional DR as the game progresses, up to a maximum of +5.

Mechtoid

Appears
Normal	March
Terror	-
Damage	{{{damage}}}
HP	25-50
Shield HP	6-16
Defense	0
Aim	75-93
Crit Chance	{{{crit}}}
Movement	14-15
Will	0

Mechtoids behave identically to vanilla Mechtoids. Like vanilla, they will appear with Sectoid escorts, and later with Sectoid Commanders.

Mechtoids are very vulnerable to psionics - Mind Fray will restrict their movement and prevent them from charging to flank as well as reducing their accuracy. Psi Panic will completely disable a Mechtoid. Chem grenades will hurt their accuracy a bit. Like the Cyberdisk, the Mechtoid will eventually gain access to Reactive Targeting Sensors.

It is worth noting that the Psi Shield granted to Mechtoids by Mind Merge also grants a significant amount of extra Damage Reduction on top of the added temporary health. As a result, it is absolutely essential that you find and kill the sectoid that set up the link (helpfully indicated by the purple streams) and eliminate them.

Mechtoid Abilities

Ability	Description
Light 'Em Up	Firing with the first action no longer ends turn.
Hardened	Confers extra protection against critical hits. Enemies suffer a -60% chance to inflict critical hits.

Possible Squad Leader Abilities

Ability	Description
Executioner	Confers +10 aim and +10 critical hit chance against targets at or below 50% of their health.
Platform Stability	Any shots taken without moving have +10 Aim and +10% critical chance.
Advanced Fire Control	Shots from Overwatch no longer suffer any Aim penalty.
Shock-Absorbent Armor	Damage received from enemies within 4 tiles is reduced by 33%.
Repair Servos	Repairs up to 50% of damage taken (max 2 per turn). Additional damage taken before repairs are complete reduces how much can be repaired.
Rapid Reaction	Allows an additional shot to be fired on Overwatch if the first Overwatch shot hits.
Reactive Targeting Sensors	Units with this perk get a free shot back at the first enemy who attacks it each turn, providing there's enough ammo to do so.
Absorption Fields	Reduces most incoming damage to this unit, scaling up as the damage increases.

Possible Navigator Abilities

Ability	Description
Combined Arms	Allows the squad that this unit belongs to to ignore 1 point of DR.
Automated Threat Assessment	Confers +15 Defense when on Overwatch. Cancelled as soon as the unit fires a reaction shot.

Notes

• Mechtoids will gain additional DR as the game progresses, up to a maximum of +4.
  

Berserker

Berserkers can also be Squad Leaders, meaning the first Berserkers you see could have terrifying amounts of health.

Like Chryssalids, anything you can do to slow down a Berserker will greatly reduce its threat. Flashbanging a Berserker will reduce its half-movement range to well below flashbang throw range, so is a good way to neutralise a Berserker you're not ready to kill. It will also reduce its movement from Bloodlust, so you can also shoot a couple of times after flashbanging (but don't go overboard). Another good piece of equipment to use against them are chem grenades, not only does it reduce their damage reduction and limit their movement, but it also deals damage to them each time they move after being shot.

Since it's possible to have multiple soldiers with Rift outside of the Temple Ship, using their aggression against them to make them wander in and out of the psionic storm will make quick work of them, if you can set up the situation. With a few other AoE attacks, a cluster of them becomes a comedic slaughter: excellent payback for all the times they will crush your soldiers under their fists.

Two well placed Close Combat Specialist Assaults (Optionally with Shredder Ammo) can also quickly make short work of even a group of Berserkers while a grenade or rocket makes them to run all at once towards the CCS trap. Beware of low ammunition shotguns.

Possible perks for Berserker squad leaders

Shock-Absorbent Armor

Regeneration

Neural Damping

Sprinter

Tactical Sense

Heavy Floater

Similar in appearance to the Floater species, this upgraded variant can pose a significant offensive threat to mechanized units as well as units behind cover when accompanied by other aliens. As the Heavy Floater will most probably already have access to Heat Ammo when you first encounter it, it is advisable to take on a more defensive position with MEC's and Shiv's, ideally concealing them behind full-cover until the enemy has been dealt with. Quite like the Muton Elite, the Heavy Floater also has access to Bombard and Alien Grenades, rendering clustered up firing lines ineffective.

Due to the Tactical Sense perk, inherent defenses and elevation bonuses, it is possible for a Heavy Floater squad leader to reach a maximum of 80 Defense during flight, making them extremely hard to hit foes on the battlefield. While psionically enhanced soldiers should have little trouble dealing with one thanks to their low will, accuracy enhancing perks and rockets are king against this species whenever the better alternative is unavailable. Furthermore, with the way Tactical Sense works, it can prove effective to temporarily move targets out of his sight radius so as to achieve better shots.

Possible perks for Heavy Floater squad leaders

Repair Servos

Heat Ammo

Close and Personal

Bombard

Tactical Sense

Ready for Anything

Will to Survive

Mayhem

Danger Zone

Sectopod

Massive mechanical war machines, Sectopods are similar to their original incarnation - only more deadly, of course. Approach with extreme caution. As with all aliens, their strength and power progresses with time, making them significantly more dangerous as the war drags on.

Possible perks for Sectopod squad leaders

Repair Servos

Automated Threat Assessment

Sentinel

Reactive Targeting Sensors

Light 'Em Up

Absorption Field