Morale

Officers

Losing an officer (higher rank) has a greater effect on the whole squad's morale than losing a rookie. LZ's are notorious for ambushes and extreme risk. So logically, the two should never mix.

Using XCOMUTIL you can automatically have your officers exit the craft last, and rookies first.

Some people extend this tactic and keep the commanding officer in the Skyranger for the entire battle. They're safest there, and with a blaster launcher or mind-probe they can even provide some support. - see Rear Commander strategy note.

It works both ways. Targeting the alien officers first (eg. with a Blaster Bomb to the UFO bridge) will help create widespread panic among the aliens.

Panic Attacks

Of the two attacks available to an alien or human using psionics, panic attacks are more likely to succeed. A successful psionic panic attack immediately subtracts a chunk (20 points?) from your morale score. Usually repeated attacks are needed to bring the morale to zero, at which point the target will panic. Typical reactions are berserking or running away. A berserk soldier will fire wildly at any available target, leaving them with no TU's and possibly some friendly fire incidents; a soldier who runs away will drop anything in their hands (weapons, live explosives) and then run in an often unsafe direction, leaving them with no TU's. Either way you can't control them this turn.

Morale falling below zero for any reason can trigger panic. Morale will restore itself slowly if there are no further triggers.

--JellyfishGreen 16:57, 19 Apr 2005 (BST)

Chance of Panicking

If a soldier's morale drops below 50, there is a chance that the soldier can panic.

Formula: 

% Chance of panicking = 100 - (2 x Morale)

Example:

If a soldier has a morale rating of 40, their chances of panicking each turn is 20%.

--Danial 07:32, 6 Sep 2005 (PDT)

Work by Hobbes at XcomUfo Forums