Soldiers (EU2012)

The Barracks, where soldiers rest, relax and recover.

A Sniper Colonel hero unit

Soldiers are your most important and valuable unit in Enemy Unknown 2012 and their death on the battlefield is permanent. Soldiers have distinct classes and their status can be checked at XCOM HQ's Barracks facility, where you can also hire new soldiers. They can be equipped with the latest available armor, weapons and other equipment. XCOM soldiers may also be assigned to the Officer Training School in order to progress in rank and gain specific squad abilities. It is also possible to customize your soldiers' name, nickname and physical appearance.

You may increase your combat troops through the following:

• By hiring them through the Barracks facility (and sacking them as well).
• By receiving soldiers of specific class/rank (will be one rank below the highest-ranked soldier you already have for that class) as a Council reward for the completion of specific combat missions. You get to select how they skill up.
  • Special cases are Zhang in Slingshot and Annette and 'The Furies' in Progeny.
• Finally there are also 'XCOM heroes' - those are beefed up soldiers you can unlock as an Easter Egg but unlocking will disable the achievement score.

Attributes

Status Status Active On Mission Wounded Gravely Wounded KIA Psionic Testing Number of Missions Number of Kills

Customizable First and Last Name Nickname (earned at Sergeant rank) Race, Voice, Head, Skin Color, Hair, Hair Color and Facial Hair Armor Appearance and Color (Pre-Order perk)

Locked Gender (Male/Female) Rank (see below) Country Class Stats Aim Defense Will Health Points (HPs) Movement (Hidden)

Nationality

Point on flag for country name.

Africa

Asia

Europe

North America

South America

Poland has replaced Saudi Arabia on the Enemy Within DLC.

Classes

All soldiers start as rookies with their class being only revealed after he/she is promoted to Squaddie and have their stats upgraded according to their class. Each class has unique abilities, and will receive specific stat bonuses upon promotion but will also have specific stat limitations and/or restrictions on weapons/equipment they can carry. Generally, each promotion will require you to choose from one of two perks available to the class at that rank.

Class Comparison

Class	Description	Move and Fire	Firepower	Aim	Critical Hit Chance	Primary Ability	Primary Weapon
Rookie	Basic unit	Yes	Normal	Normal	Normal	None	Assault Rifle
Assault	Close combat unit	Yes	Normal	Normal	High	Run & Gun	Shotgun Assault Rifle
Heavy	High-caliber and explosive firepower	Yes	High	Normal	Normal	Rocket Launcher	LMG
Sniper	Long-range accurate fire	No	Normal	High	High	Headshot	Sniper Rifle
Support	Jack of all trades	Yes	Normal	Normal	Normal	Smoke Grenade	Assault Rifle
Psionic *	Mental powers	*	*	*	*	Mindfray	*
MEC Trooper **	Armored unit	Yes	High	**	**	Collateral Damage	Minigun

* Psionic class is a sub-class build from existing soldiers so it's stats will be based on the starting class.
** MEC Trooper is a new class introduced in the Enemy Within DLC. MECs can be made from any existing class and they have a passive ability based on its former class.

Further information about each class may be found on the Classes page.

Ranks

Each soldier also has a rank, starting as a rookie. As he/she progresses through the ranks, the soldier gains additional combat abilities and stat bonuses. Attaining certain officer ranks unlocks improvements that can be purchased through the Officer Training School (first available at Sergeant). Each class receives specific stat bonuses upon each rank-up: Abilities, HP, Aim, and Will. Newly-hired Rookies' stats start at the following base values:

Rookie stats

	Easy	Normal	Classic	Impossible
Health *	6	5	4	3
Will	40	40	40	40
Offense Aim	65	65	65	65
Defense	0	0	0	0

* This is the base health stat for all new recruits, however, the standard XCOM armor grants 1 plus HP, as such, the base HP levels for all soldiers without armor will be these values +1. With the Second Wave option Not Created Equal, all soldiers will have Will scores between 25 to 59, Aim of 55 to 80 and 11 to 14 Movement scores.

Once a rookie is promoted, they then get the following stat bonuses:

Class, Rank and Stats Bonuses

Class	Squaddie	Corporal	Sergeant	Lieutenant	Captain	Major	Colonel	Total
Assault	Health Points + 1 Aim + 5 Will + 2	Health Points + 0 Aim + 3 Will + 2	Health Points + 1 Aim + 3 Will + 2	Health Points + 0 Aim + 3 Will + 2	Health Points + 1 Aim + 3 Will + 2	Health Points + 0 Aim + 3 Will + 2	Health Points + 1 Aim + 4 Will + 2	Health Points + 4 Aim + 24 Will + 14
Heavy	Health Points + 1 Aim + 2 Will + 2	Health Points + 0 Aim + 1 Will + 2	Health Points + 1 Aim + 1 Will + 2	Health Points + 0 Aim + 1 Will + 2	Health Points + 1 Aim + 1 Will + 2	Health Points + 0 Aim + 2 Will + 2	Health Points + 1 Aim + 2 Will + 2	Health Points + 4 Aim + 10 Will + 14
Sniper	Health Points + 0 Aim + 10 Will + 2	Health Points + 1 Aim + 3 Will + 2	Health Points + 0 Aim + 3 Will + 2	Health Points + 1 Aim + 3 Will + 2	Health Points + 0 Aim + 4 Will + 2	Health Points + 1 Aim + 7 Will + 2	Health Points + 0 Aim + 10 Will + 2	Health Points + 3 Aim + 40 Will + 14
Support	Health Points + 1 Aim + 5 Will + 2	Health Points + 0 Aim + 3 Will + 2	Health Points + 1 Aim + 3 Will + 2	Health Points + 0 Aim + 3 Will + 2	Health Points + 1 Aim + 3 Will + 2	Health Points + 0 Aim + 3 Will + 2	Health Points + 1 Aim + 5 Will + 2	Health Points + 4 Aim + 25 Will + 14
MEC Trooper	Health Points + 1 Aim + 0 Will + 2	Health Points + 0 Aim + 1 Will + 2	Health Points + 1 Aim + 1 Will + 2	Health Points + 0 Aim + 1 Will + 2	Health Points + 1 Aim + 2 Will + 2	Health Points + 0 Aim + 2 Will + 2	Health Points + 1 Aim + 3 Will + 2	Health Points + 4 Aim + 10 Will + 14

In addition to the fixed stat bonuses above, there is a random 0-4 bonus (average 2.0) for willpower at each level. If the Iron Will upgrade was purchased at the OTS, another 2-6 willpower (average 4.0) is added. Thus with Iron Will, there is a 2-10 bonus (average 6.0) for willpower at each level. The maximum possible willpower with Iron Will is 124 (40+14+7*(4+6)), but it is nearly impossible to achieve because it would require 14 maximal die rolls (assuming a simple random roll is used).

With the Second Wave option Hidden Potential (and the Iron Will purchase), all classes can potentially get Will gains up to 13 points, and different/random HP, movement and Aim gains (except for heavies, which will always get little to no Aim gains).

Promotions

XP Requirements

In order to progress in ranks a XCOM soldier has gain experience points (XP) up to a certain level. Experience points can be gained by killing aliens (with the higher species worth more points) and by completing missions. It is also possible to purchase the Wet Work ability from the Officer Training School, which gives an additional +25% points gained from kills.

XP Required per Rank

Rank	Points Required	Points Required (EW DLC)
Rookie	0	0
Squaddie	90	90
Corporal	300	480
Sergeant	510	700
Lieutenant	745	925
Captain	1100	1380
Major	1560	1840
Colonel	2150	2550
Psionic*	0	0
Specialist	50	50
Operative	120	120

* After their Gift being revealed on the Psi Lab, Psionic soldiers are required to perform specific Psionic actions to be promoted.

Earning XPs

XP Gained per Action

Action	Points Earned
Alien Kill	30/601
Regular Missions	60/901
Storyline Missions	120/1801
Zero KIAs	20
Resist Psi Attack	102
Successful Mindfray	202
Successful Mind Inspiration	302
Assist Mind Inspiration	302
Successful Psi Panic	302

¹ Additional XP is earned if the soldier has a rank of Sergeant or less and kills any of the following alien species during the mission:

• Sectoid Commander
• Ethereal
• Chryssalid
• Sectopod
• Muton Elite
• Berserker

² Psionic actions.

Source: XComGame.upk, XGTacticalGameCore class

Enemy Within Supplemental

• MEC soldiers gain only 50% of the normal experience points received through kills.
• The Star of Terra medal gives also a +25% bonus increase on experience gain from completing a mission, if the soldier's rank is below Lieutenant.
• Vehicles blowing up and killing aliens are credited to the soldier who set the vehicle on fire. As this is entertaining, more research is needed to determine if it is only the first soldier that hits a vehicle who gets credit for the fire-kill, or if it's the last soldier to hit the vehicle, or even multiple credit can be gained.
• Covert Operations missions seem to give extra XPs to the Covert Operative, although the mechanic is still unknown.
• According to reports, the higher alien ranks don't give the double XPs as they did before, although it is unknown what are the new conditions.

Abilities/Perks

Perks are special abilities given to specific classes or the entire squad. They can be acquired through the following:

• Soldier can choose between two specific class abilities upon promotion (exclusively).
• Purchased through the Officer Training School (require presence of high rank officer(s)) .
• Equipment, research, and upgrades may also provide additional abilities for your squad.