Gene Mods (EU2012)

Gene Mods are unlocked after capturing Meld and finishing research on the Meld Recombination project. It is also required to build the Genetics Lab before it is possible to apply any Gene Mods to your soldiers.

Gene Mods cost both credits (§) and Meld and be can applied to the following categories: Brain, Eyes, Chest, Skin, Legs, with 2 options available for each (and that can be swapped at a cost).
Gene Modding

• 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.
• Modded soldiers will have a specific icon, with their class icon superimposed over it (unless they are Rookies).
• Modded soldiers have a different appearance than regular soldiers, with less armor plating being shown.

Genetics Lab Projects

Brain

Neural Damping

Name	Prerequisite	Cost	Description
Neural Damping	Berserker Autopsy	§35, 20 Meld	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.

• Good on soldiers with low will who spend a lot of time in the thick of it.
• Also useful for units that may be able to demolish your unit from within, (such as Shotgun Assaults or Heavies packing Blaster Launchers) or for units that are tactically critical (such as whoever's packing the Arc Thrower).

Neural Feedback

Name	Prerequisite	Cost	Description
Neural Feedback	Sectoid Commander Autopsy	§35, 10 Meld	Causes damage to psi attackers and puts all of their psi attacks on cooldown. Does not reduce the attacker's chance of success.

• The feedback response has a base damage of 1, and goes up by 1 per 10 will. May be a better long-term choice as a Squad Leader with high Will & Lead By Example will greatly assist in defending against Psi Attacks but still damage Ethereals and Sectoid Commanders. It is also a cheaper use of Meld and medals can provide immunity to panic.

Eyes

Hyper Reactive Pupils

Name	Prerequisite	Cost	Description
Hyper Reactive Pupils	Meld Recombination	§15, 5 Meld	Confers +10 Aim to any shot after a miss.

• The bonus is generic and applies to your next shot, regardless of if you move or even if the shot is taken at the same alien that you missed the first time.
• Best on soldier classes that you regularly put on Overwatch: if they miss on it, then their next shot benefits from this mod.
• Also very useful for soldiers with abilities such as Bullet Swarm, Rapid Reaction, Double Tap, Sentinel or Rapid Fire.

Depth Perception

Name	Prerequisite	Cost	Description
Depth Perception	Meld Recombination	§15, 5 Meld	Height Advantage confers an additional +5 Aim and 5+ critical chance.

• Best used in units that regularly use height advantage for shots, like Snipers.
• On a Damn Good Ground Sniper, with Archangel Armor, a S.C.O.P.E., and a few medals...

Heart

Secondary Heart

Name	Prerequisite	Cost	Description
Secondary Heart	Cyberdisc Autopsy	§75, 15 Meld	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.

• Very useful for your Psi Squad or for Assaults and other soldiers more prone to Critical Wounds. Does not activate following death via Chryssalids.

Adrenal Neurosympathy

Name	Prerequisite	Cost	Description
Adrenal Neurosympathy	Muton Autopsy	§25, 10 Meld	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.

• Gives +10 Aim, +5 Critical Chance and +2 extra movement points.
• Combat Rush lasts for two turns. While active, soldiers without helmets on will exhale orange smoke, like the Mutons.
• Combat Rush does not always trigger on soldiers in cover relative to the unit releasing the pheromones. (In other words, it works similarly to Needle Grenades).
• You can nearly keep this bonus active during firefights if multiple soldiers have this mod, as it cannot occur more than once every 5 turns per soldier. However, the bonus cannot "stack", so don't expect your squad to have more than one "Combat Rush" active.
• Combat Rush also immediately removes panic from affected soldiers similar to Psi Inspiration.

Skin

Bioelectric Skin

Name	Prerequisite	Cost	Description
Bioelectric Skin	Chryssalid Autopsy	§35, 15 Meld	The soldier projects an electric skin from his or her skin, revealing but not alerting nearby enemies, and is immune to strangulation.

• 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 "electrical sphere" signals nearby.

Mimetic Skin

Name	Prerequisite	Cost	Description
Mimetic Skin	Seeker Autopsy	§75, 35 Meld (Pre-1.6 Patch) §150, 65 Meld	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.

• In practice: be out of Line of Sight of an enemy, then move to full cover: soldier will essentially switch to Ghost/Stealth mode before moving. Moving while concealed with any enemies within line of sight of that unit will reveal the soldier, regardless of what cover is moved to/from.
• While cloaked, the soldier receives +30 Critical Chance to any shots fired.
• Soldiers with Low Profile can utilize Low Cover to conceal, making this ability all the more useful. Works great for high level Snap Shot Snipers!
• You cannot use Ghost Grenade or Ghost Armor's Stealth mode on a soldier with Mimetic Skin. However, you can, and probably still should equip it with Ghost Armor, at least for the move bonus and the Grapple.
• Unlike Ghost Armor or Grenade, where the stealth effect wears off after a turn, a Mimetic Skin soldier will stay cloaked as long as the soldier doesn't leave cover in sight of an alien. This can be used to place a scout to keep an eye on a group of several aliens and then take your time bringing them down over several turns with Squadsight Snipers or any other means. The disadvantage is that the scout can't move or engage any of the aliens without exposing themselves, meaning a reduction on your squad's firepower.
• An excellent choice for your Covert Agent, as they cannout equip any health-boosting equipment.
• Meld/Credit cost updated in Febuary 2014 patch.
• Actions that do not drop stealth mode include:
  • Going into Overwatch (but firing an Overwatch shot will-- and since it'll be whichever alien moved first, his two buddies will be free to fire upon you
  • Tossing a Flashbang
  • Tossing a Mimic Beacon (does not work on unactive alien squads)
  • Reloading the soldier's weapon
  • Applying a Medikit
  • Psi Inspiration

• Note that Sectopods can remove stealth when scanning, and cover that is on fire can disappear, revealing the stealthed unit. There is also a bug (?) where an alien tries to move into or through the stealthed unit's square, which reveals the unit. See Steam screenshot at http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=238289278

Legs

Muscle Fiber Density

Name	Prerequisite	Cost	Description
Muscle Fiber Density	Thin Man Autopsy	§60, 25 Meld	Confers superhuman leg strength, enabling the soldier to reach high positions without the need for ladders or other climbing aids.

• 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.
• Not as useful as Adaptive Bone Marrow as most firefights are fought on somewhat equal elevations. However, a Covert Operative can make best use as they move around maps to hack EXALT Comms, especially if paired with Mimetic Skin.

Adaptive Bone Marrow

Name	Prerequisite	Cost	Description
Adaptive Bone Marrow	Meld Recombination	§30, 15 Meld	Wound recovery time is reduced by 66%. Soldier regenerates 2 HP per turn up to the HP max without armor.

• 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).
• Resolves at the end of the XCOM turn. So be careful with badly wounded units if dealing with robots or enemies on Overwatch.
• To get the maximum use of this gene mod, wait until the soldier fully self regenerates before applying any Medikit or Restorative Mist over him/her.

EXALT Gene Mods

EXALT will also deploy the following Gene Mods on their Elite soldiers, some of them unique.

• Depth Perception - Height Advantage confers an additional +5 Aim and 5+ critical chance.
  • Used by Elite Snipers, same Gene Mod as described above.
• Iron Skin - All damage taken is reduced by 25%.
  • Used by Elite Heavies
• Adrenaline Surge - Confers +10 Aim and +10% critical chance.
  • Used by Elite Operatives, activates when the Operative is wounded.
• Regen Pheromones - This unit and all nearby allies are healed for 1 health each turn.
  • Used by Elite Medics.
  • Will affect XCOM troopers if you Mind Control these units.

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  Gene Mods

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  Modded Soldier