Morale

Usually only relevant in bad situations, knowing how it works can thus be of help to a struggling X-COM commander.

Starting Values

Morale is fixed at 100 and is reset at the start of each mission.

Actions affecting morale

Own unit killed - squad loses 20 points, adjusted by bravery, leadership and rank of dead soldier
Own unit knocked unconscious - no effect on squad morale
Own unit hurt - no effect on squad morale, unit hurt loses ?? points
Friendly fire kill - squad loses normal amount, soldier loses 20 extra points adjusted only by leadership
Friendly fire hit - no effect beyond injury morale loss in the soldier hit
Alien hit/hurt - no effect on your morale
Alien killed - squad gains 10 points, adjusted by squad leadership, soldier gains 20 extra points adjusted by squad leadership
Panic/berserk - soldier gains 15 points flat

Bravery

Base morale loss when a comrade dies is as follows:

Bravery  Morale loss
  10       -20
  20       -18
  30       -16
  40       -14
  50       -12
  60       -10
  70        -8

Officers

Officers help in two ways - they reduce morale loss from negative events, and they increase morale gained from positive events. Current best leadership bonus is always used - so if a colonel is killed, and the next best thing on the mission is a sergeant, morale loss from the colonel's death is reduced by 10%.

Morale loss is higher for an officer casualty, as seen below. Rookies, squaddies and tanks cause normal amounts.

          Leadership    Death morale
            bonus          loss
Sergeant     10%           x1.2
Captain      15%           x1.3
Colonel      20%           x1.5
Commander    35%           x1.75

Morale loss on personnel death equals:

 Base morale loss x (100% - Leadership bonus) = adjusted morale loss (drop fractions)
 Adjusted morale loss x Rank modifier = final morale loss (drop fractions)

Officer tactics

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.

General panic chance

If a soldier's morale drops below 50, there is a chance that he will panic or go berserk on the next turn.

Formula: 

% Panic Chance = 100 - (2 x Morale)

Example:

If a soldier has a Morale rating of 40, they have a 20% chance of panicking on the next turn.

Work by Hobbes at XcomUfo Forums