Battlescape Strategy (Hardmode)
As Hardmode assumes the player is familiar with vanilla X-COM, this strategy section will detail additional battlescape issues, tips and tricks that Hardmode presents. Generic strategy information pertinent to vanilla X-COM can be found here: https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Category:Tactics
Squad Composition
Every X-COM commander will have their own personal preference for how they equip and deploy their soldiers.
Due to the presence of new tools and weapons, this section will detail some possible new squad roles that may be performed.
Breacher
Wielding the new Shotgun class of weapons. Breacher's are intended to get in close to the enemy in close quarter combat end deliver outstanding firepower. A good breacher wants high time units but otherwise is not dependant on any particular stat to be effective, and can make an effective "generic" role for soldiers with mediocre or bad stats. Breachers can make good scouts, however this class does suffer from very poor usefulness in mid range combat and is virtually defenceless in long range combat.
Hybrid Breacher
An alternative to a dedicated breacher, is to have soldiers place shotguns in their backpack and to then carry a traditional Rifle or Pistol as their mainstay weapon. This does confer a significant weight penelty to the soldier, meaning a soldier will have to sacrifice a large part of their carrying capacity to pull this off. But the success to this is a highly versatile soldier than can engage in equally close and mid-range combat at any moment.
Grenadier
Different from the traditional view of a X-COM grenadier, this is a soldier dedicated to using the Grenade Launcher. This soldier is served best with decent aim and high strength to carry the grenades. So long as this soldier can find a safe, open, area to setup in, they can stay put and deploy pin-point accurate indirect explosive fire across the entire map. Grenadiers tend to do very well in training up their aim stat due to how frequently they fire.
As a grenadier will be sitting well behind the frontline, they typically do not require armour or any other items.
Grenadiers are kept relevant towards the mid-game with the proliferation of the Small Launcher, which acts as the alien interpretation of the grenade launcher, this also allows the grenadier to use 'stun' bombs to capture aliens at very long ranges. The strength of this weapon does fall off in the late game, but it nonetheless retains a niche thanks to its indirect fire and stun capability.
Sniper
Armed with a high power Sniper. These soldiers sacrifice close range effectiveness for long range precision elimination. Their high aim/power shots makes them very effective for picking off enemies at great distances, and heavily support scout-sniper tactics. High aim is very much needed to makes a Sniper class work well.
A pistol sidearm can prove lifesaving if an enemy closes the gap, as the sniper suffers from very poor close range accuracy. In the arly game a Sniper can also make an effective medkit user.
Drone Warfare
TBA
TBA