Sectopod (EU2012)

For the original UFO: Enemy Unknown (1994) version, see Sectopod

For the version that appears in The Bureau, see Sectopod (Bureau)

An artificial warrior for the Alien Army, these huge robotic units are a massive threat to your squad members. They are armed with some of the best weaponry the Aliens have. Not only can they use a heavy Plasma Cannon built into its body that can fire twice during a turn but they have a rocket salvo (Cluster Bomb) that they can use to lay waste to large areas. Their Plasma Cannon will also go automatically into Overwatch mode after it is used and can also fire twice while on reaction fire. Finally, the Plasma Cannon will deal area of effect damage when it hits a target and can be used to destroy terrain (and cover). Their armour is the very best around, it will take a huge deal of focus fire to take down and there is also the Drones it brings along with it to consider. It can also use both its turn moves for attacking, but only at different targets.

They don't charge as aggressively as Cyberdiscs but they are significantly more dangerous. They will usually stay still and destroy your squad from far away.

They are immune to most psionic attacks, with the exception of Rift.

Info

1st Appearance	September February (Marathon) Overseer UFO
HP	30/30/30/30
Aim	80/80/90/90
Defense	30
Will	0
Movement	12
Easy/Normal/Classic/Impossible

Sectopod Abilities

Ability	Description
Cannon Fire	Beam attack that causes high damage and grants free Overwatch. If the Sectopod does not move, Cannon Fire can be used twice (against different enemies). Base Damage: 9-11, Critical Damage: 15 or 16, Critical Chance: 10
Cluster Bomb	Mark a large area, and after one turn, saturate it with a barrage of explosive mini-bombs. Each mini-bomb deals 6 Damage.
Hardened	Confers extra protection against critical hits. Enemies suffer a -60% chance to inflict critical hits.
Reinforced Armor	All incoming damage is reduced by 50% Enemy Within DLC only.

Notes

• Sectopods start appearing in September (vanilla) or February (Marathon).
• They also have the Robotic passive ability, making them immune to stun, poison and most psionic attacks.
• The Sectopod's Cannon Fire will cause damage target to anything within small Area of Effect, and grants free Overwatch. If the Sectopod does not move, Cannon Fire can be used twice (against different targets).
  • Enemy Within DLC: Sectopod's Cannon Fire lost the AoE damage, but can now attack same target twice if there is only a single target within firing range.
  • Cannon Fire can also be used to free target terrain by the Sectopod.
• The Cluster Bomb attack marks a large area, and after one turn, saturate it with a barrage of explosive minibombs. It finishes the Sectopod's actions for that turn. It enters a special deployed state and aims at the target location; on the following turn, it bombards the target area with many small explosives (6 damage each).
  • While it is targeting an area to use the Cluster Bomb ability the camera will briefly zoom on that area, allowing you to know where the rockets will hit.
  • There are a few odd terrain/cover situations where the targeted soldier doesn't even need to move, such as being indoors (roofs are indestructible, intercept missiles), or lack of floors (in flight, balconies at certain angles: the bombs don't even damage directly, it's the splash damage that brings the hurt)
• If killed during a successful mission a Sectopod Wreck will be recovered.
  • Researching Sectopod wrecks will unlock the Advanced Construction Foundry project.
• Suppressing them disallows their reaction fire that they get (even if not on Overwatch).
• An excellent strategy exploits their beam weapons' splash damage: Mind Control an alien, and have them stand right next to the Sectopod. When they are fired on, it will likely be for Critical damage, which will then also hit them.
• Enemy Within DLC changes:
  • The 'nerfing' they endure, that their beam weapons no longer have an AoE effect, actually helps them in that the above strategy no longer works at all.
  • Reinforced Armor ability reduces all damage by 50%.
  • Their death explosion is now essentially a (slightly larger) Alien Grenade going off, 5 Damage included to anything standing near it (about the range of the Assault's modified Close and Personal, for example).
  • Sectopods can detect cloaked soldiers and will either use their cannon to destroy their cover (and reveal the soldier if it has Mimetic Skin), or they will target the ghosted soldier's location with their Cluster Bomb barrage.
  • There is some good news: Disabling Shot now actually disables the Sectopod's weapon for a turn (a previous bug would cause it to continuously fire while on Overwatch).