Sectoid Commander (EU2012)

The Sectoid Commander makes a non-interactive appearance in the tutorial mission if you have it enabled, but your first proper Sectoid Commander encounter will be in the Alien Base. After that, they will be at the helm of UFOs right up until you assault the Overseer UFO, at which point they are permanently replaced by Ethereals. These aliens have the ability to mind control your soldiers and after the alien base assault they will always deploy in groups of 2 or 3. Allowing them to live throughout the alien turn can be an extremely dangerous (and deadly) experience due to their psionic powers.

In the Enemy Within DLC: once 'unlocked' in the Alien Base Assault, they will still make regular appearances, with one (often also with a regular Sectoid) or two combined with a Mechtoid, even after the Ethereal Device is captured.

Info

1st Appearance	Alien Base
HP	10/10/14/14
Aim	85/85/95/95
Defense	20
Will	90/90/115/125
Movement	12
Easy/Normal/Classic/Impossible

Sectoid Commander Armaments

Weapon	Base Damage	Critical Damage	Critical Chance	Abilities
Sectoid Plasma Pistol	2-4	4 or 6	0	Unlimited ammo
Alien Grenade	5	NA	NA	NA

Sectoid Commander Abilities

Ability	Description
Mind Fray	Use psi abilities in combat to unlock further psi training. Causes the target to lose grip on reality, inflicting penalties to Aim, Will, and mobility, and doing 5 base damage. Robotic units are immune. Lasts 2 turns. 1 turn cooldown.
Mind Control	Very difficult psi technique that, if successful, grants control of the target for 3 turns. Robotic enemies are immune. 5 turn cooldown.
Psi Panic	Cause target to panic on its following turn, if the target's Will is overcome. Robotic enemies are immune. 2 turn cooldown.
Greater Mind Merge	Merge minds with all lesser allies of the same species nearby, granting them +25 critical chance and +1 health.

Notes

• On the Enemy Within DLC, Sectoid Commanders can also Mind Merge with Mechtoids giving them a 6 HP shield that reduces all incoming damage by 50%. If the Commander is killed, the Mechtoid's shield will be deactivated and it will receive 3 damage points.
• Mechtoids with Sectoid Commanders will appear in July (vanilla) or October (Marathon).
• Suppressing or using Disabling Shot on these aliens is very likely to make them use Mind Control on your soldiers, so be aware!
• On the other hand, leaving a soldier exposed to them can be a lot less dangerous since they'll be more likely to fire their Plasma Pistols instead at the soldier than mind controlling him/her.
• S.H.I.V.s can be one of the best units against these aliens since they can't be mind controlled by them.
• If killed during a successful mission a Sectoid Commander Corpse will be recovered.
  • On the Enemy Within DLC, researching a Sectoid Commander corpse will unlock the Neural Feedback gene mod and the Mimic Beacon.
• If captured during a mission and interrogated afterwards they will provide a reduction in the time required for Psionic research.
  • Capturing a Sectoid Commander will also recover intact its Plasma Pistol, which can be used later by your troops after it's researched, as well as its Alien Grenade, which can be used immediately without any research required.

Trivia

• A Sectoid Commander may be seen on the Tutorial mission where it is mind controlling the German solder.
• In the Game Over cutscene, the Council Representative (mind controlled by a Sectoid Commander) announces the shutdown of XCOM while a Thin Man grasps his shoulder. This may be a reference to earlier games, where it is implied that withdrawn countries are thusly easily infiltrated, then Mind Control techniques are used on their leaders and populace.