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Tactics

Soldier Management

Use the first 3 missions to bring all the 12 initial soldiers and reveal their classes.
The focus is on building a poll of soldiers - it should be around 10-12 soldiers being rotated on missions, plus a number of replacements.
A basic setup is to have 2-3 officers of each class, depending on personal preferences - your favorite build(s) for that class and his/her replacement, plus an alternative build for more specialized missions.
To get the Squad Size increase, you can get later a Sergeant as a reward in an abduction mission.
Try to get as soldiers as rewards during Abduction missions (although you may lose countries) - money and resources are easy to get, high rank soldiers take a lot of time to build up. Even if you have already 2 officers from that class
Usually the distribution of classes will not be balanced. Use Abduction missions to make up with any shortfalls.

1) Maps 2) Type and number of aliens.

The first criteria is if XCOM or the aliens are capable of killing their opponents with 1 shot. At the beginning the aliens will have the upper hand, specially in Classic/Impossible but that will keep changing back and forward as XCOM deploys new tech and the aliens bring more races. There's something of a ratio: if you're facing 3 lesser opponents or 2 similar ones or 1 superior alien you're outnumbered and your soldiers can be severely injured or killed.

With this in mind you may face three types of scenarios everytime you'll go on an Abduction/Terror/UFO missions. Council missions are predictable since you'll be facing always Sectoids or Thin Men.

Class Builds

Class Builds
Class/Type	Corporal	Sergeant	Lieutenant	Captain	Colonel	Notes
Support (Medic)	Sprinter Covering Fire	Field Medic	Revive	Dense Smoke Combat Drugs	Savior
Support (Scout)	Sprinter	Smoke and Mirrors	Rifle Suppression	Dense Smoke	Sentinel
Support (Rifleman)	Covering Fire	Field Medic Smoke and Mirrors	Rifle Suppression	Dense Smoke Combat Drugs	Sentinel
Assault (Charger)	Aggression	Close and Personal	Rapid Fire	Bring 'Em On	Killer Instinct
Assault (Flanker)	Tactical Sense	Lightning Reflexes	Rapid Fire Flush	Close Combat Specialist	Resilience
Assault (Rifleman)	Tactical Sense	Lightning Reflexes Close And Personal	Rapid Fire Flush	Bring 'Em On	Resilience
Sniper	Squad Sight	Gunslinger Damn Good Ground	Disabling Shot	Opportunist	Double Tap In The Zone
Sniper (Scout)	Snap Shot	Gunslinger Damn Good Ground	Battle Scanner	Executioner	Double Tap In The Zone
Heavy (Support)	Holo-Targeting	Shredder Rocket	HEAT Ammo	Grenadier	Rocketeer	Demolition/Squad Support
Heavy (Rifleman)	Bullet Swarm	Suppression	Rapid Reaction	Danger Zone	Mayhem	Requires a lot of ammo.
Heavy (Antiarmor)	Bullet Swarm	Shredder Rocket	HEAT Ammo	Danger Zone	Rocketeer
Heavy (Grenadier)	Bullet Swarm	Shredder Rocket	HEAT Ammo	Grenadier	Mayhem
'

Normal Weapons Kill Table

Weapon	Base Damage	Crit Damage	Critical Chance	Maximum Damage (Base + Crit)?	Sectoid Thin Man Outsider Drone	Floater	Muton Chryssalid	Zombie Sectoid Commander	Heavy Floater	Muton Elite	Cyberdisk	Bezerker Ethereal	Sectopod
					3	4	8	10	12	14	16	20	30
Pistol	1	1	0	2
Laser Pistol Laser Pistol (I)	2	3	10 30	5	CRIT	CRIT
Laser Pistol (I & III)	3	3	30	6	BASE	CRIT
Plasma Pistol Assault Rifle Plasma Pistol (I)	3	4	0 10 20	7	BASE	CRIT
Plasma Pistol (I & III)	4	4	20	8	BASE	BASE	CRIT
LMG Sniper Rifle Shotgun	4	6	0 25 20	10	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT
Laser Rifle Plasma Light Rifle	5	7	10	12	BASE	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT
Heavy Laser Laser Sniper Rifle Laser Scatter	6	9	10 30 20	15	BASE	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT
Plasma Rifle	7	10	10	17	BASE	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT
Heavy Plasma Plasma Sniper Rifle Alloy Cannon	9	13	10 35 20	22	BASE	BASE	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT

Classic Weapons Kill Table

Weapon	Base Damage	Crit Damage	Critical Chance	Maximum Damage (Base + Crit)?	Sectoid	Thin Man Floater	Outsider Drone	Chryssalid	Muton Zombie	Heavy Floater Muton Elite Sectoid Commander	Cyberdisk Bezerker Ethereal	Sectopod
					3	4	5	8	10	14	20	30
Pistol	1	1	0	2
Laser Pistol Laser Pistol (I)	2	3	10 30	5	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT
Laser Pistol (I & III)	3	3	30	6	BASE	CRIT	CRIT
Plasma Pistol Assault Rifle Plasma Pistol (I)	3	4	0 10 20	7	BASE	CRIT	CRIT
Plasma Pistol (I & III)	4	4	20	8	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT
LMG Sniper Rifle Shotgun	4	6	0 25 20	10	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT
Laser Rifle Plasma Light Rifle	5	7	10	12	BASE	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT
Heavy Laser Laser Sniper Rifle Laser Scatter	6	9	10 30 20	15	BASE	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT
Plasma Rifle	7	10	10	17	BASE	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT
Heavy Plasma Plasma Sniper Rifle Alloy Cannon	9	13	10 35 20	22	BASE	BASE	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT

Impossible Weapons Kill Table

		Sectoid (E/N/C) Outsider (E/N) Thin Man (E/N) Floater (E) Drone (E/N)	Sectoid (I) Thin Man (C) Floater (N/C) Seeker (E)	Outsider (C/I) Drone (C) Seeker (N/C)	Thin Man (I) Floater (I) Seeker (I)	Drone (I)	Chryssalid Muton (E/N/C) Sectoid Commander (E/N)	Zombie (E/N/C) Muton (I)	Heavy Floater (E/N)	Zombie (I) Sectoid Commander (C/I) Heavy Floater (C)	Cyberdisc (E/N) Heavy Floater (I) Muton Elite (E/N/C) Mechtoid (E)	Cyberdisc (C/I) Berserker (E/N/C) Muton Elite (I) Ethereal (E/N/C) Mechtoid (N)	Berserker (I) Ethereal (I) Uber Ethereal (E/N/C)	Sectopod
Weapon	Base Damage Crit Damage	3	4	5	6	7	8	10	12	14	16	20	25	30
Pistol	1-2 2 or 3	0% 66%	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL
Laser Pistol	1-3 3 or 4	33% 100%	0% 33%	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL
Plasma Pistol Assault Rifle	2-4 4 or 6	66% 100%	33% 100%	0% 66%	0% 66%	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL
LMG Sniper Rifle Shotgun	3-5 6 or 7	KILL	66% 100%	33% 100%	0% 100%	0% 33%	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL
Laser Rifle Plasma Light Rifle Minigun	4-6 7 or 9	KILL	KILL	66% 100%	33% 100%	0% 100%	0% 66%	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL
Heavy Laser Laser Sniper Rifle Laser Scatter	5-7 9 or 10	KILL	KILL	KILL	66% 100%	33% 100%	0% 100%	0% 33%	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL
Plasma Rifle Railgun	6-8 10 or 12	KILL	KILL	KILL	KILL	66% 100%	33% 100%	0% 100%	0% 66%	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL
Heavy Plasma Plasma Sniper Rifle Alloy Cannon	8-10 13 or 15	KILL	KILL	KILL	KILL	KILL	KILL	33% 100%	0% 100%	0% 66%	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL
Particle Cannon	9-11 15 or 17	KILL	KILL	KILL	KILL	KILL	KILL	66% 100%	0% 100%	0% 100%	0% 33%	NO KILL	NO KILL	NO KILL

Game Files Info

XCOMGAME.UPK

AI Behaviour

Moving vs static packs

Moving packs will roam the battlefield until spotting XCOM or civilian units.
Static packs will be hunkered down and waiting for enemy units to be seen.
Ambush packs are aliens that will appear active but on Overwatch.
The AI will 'teleport' either type of packs from one map location to the other, if they are still 'unactivated' (haven't seen XCOM units)

Active vs passive aliens

Active aliens are alerted to XCOM's presence and will take action immediately upon sight.
Aliens can be activated in 3 ways:
- By spotting XCOM units - the run for cover animation will be played - this requires for the XCOM unit to move into a visible square. However due to Line of Sight mechanics it is possible to spot a group of passive aliens while moving diagonally without activating them.
- By being activated by other already active aliens - the individual alien seems to emit a specific sound that can activate passive packs without the 'run for cover' animation.
- By firing and hitting any of the aliens with indirect fire by using Rocket Launchers, Squad Sight snipers, etc.

Swarming

The AI seems to respond to scouts by pulling back some units to 'alert' other alien packs and/or 'teleporting' aliens closer to the position of last seen XCOM units. If those aliens are already activated this will result in very nasty surprises for XCOM.
This can be visible on the amount of packs that are teleported and activated in terror/abduction missions in the first turns.

Tutorial/Council/Temple Ship Missions

All packs are static or ambush
Active aliens will not activate passive packs
No teleporting

Abduction/UFOs/Alien Base Missions

Moving/Static packs
Active aliens will not activate passive packs
Teleporting

Terror Missions

Moving/Static packs
Active aliens can activate passive packs
Teleporting

Classes Tables

KEYCHART

Left Side Abilities	Right Side Abilities	Additional Shot	Improves Reaction	Extra Movement	Additional Equipment	Change Unit Aim	Decrease Enemy Aim	Increase Damage Given	Decrease Damage Taken

Assault

Assault Ability/Rank Tree
	Action	Aim	Damage			Notes
						Allows firing after the 2nd action 2 turn cooldown
						+5 Defense for every enemy in sight (max +20)
						+10% Critical chance per enemy on sight (max 30%)
						First reaction shot fired at this unit always misses
						Bonus declines with distance from the target
						Allows a shot that forces target to leave cover Shot has +30 Aim and deals fixed 4 points damage
						Allows to fire 2 shots with 1 Action Reduced accuracy (-15 Aim)
						Gives a single shot enemy that approaches within 4 tiles Applies to both the player and the enemy's turn
						+1 Damage for each enemy within the squad's vision (max 5)
						Heavier armor increases the bonus
						Immunity to Critical Hits
						Activating Run & Gun will give the unit +50% in Critical Damage

Heavy

Heavy Ability/Rank Tree
	Action	Aim	Damage			Notes

						Allows for two shots, or to move after firing
						Gives +10 Aim to any squad members firing at the same enemy
						Shredder Rocket deals 4 points damage (6 Blaster Launcher)

Sniper

Sniper Ability/Rank Tree
	Action	Aim	Damage			Notes
						3 turn cooldown


						Only applies to pistols
						Adds upon other aiming bonuses, including flying with Archangel armor

						Can be used combined with Squad Sight

						The normal Overwatch aim penalty is -30

						Can only be used once with pistols Can be combined with Snap Shot 2 turn cooldown
						Can be used with pistols Cannot be combined with Snap Shot

Support

Support Ability/Rank Tree
	Action	Aim	Damage			Notes

Squad Roles

There are 3 squad roles that each soldier can assume during a fight to achieve its tactical objectives, regardless of their class and/or abilities. They are:

Maneuver - the capacity for the squad to move and reach favorable positions during your turn;
- Move/Dash - usual game actions;
- This role involves detecting the enemy (scouting), retreating and/or outflanking it;
- It also involves dislodging enemies from their own positions during your turn.
Fire - to weaken and/or eliminate enemy targets during your turn;
Fire/Throw - usual game actions.
- This role also involves removing enemy cover or boosting up a soldier's Aim/Critical Chance stats.
Security - to prevent enemy actions during your and their turns.
- Cover/Overwatch/Suppress/Hunker Down - usual game actions;
- Security also involves healing wounds since they prevent KIAs.

The 3 roles are tightly interlinked together. A soldier moving to outflank an alien will increase squad security since it may force it to withdrawal from its position.

General vs Specialized Soldiers

Some soldiers are more inclined for specific squad roles than others due to their stats, class/abilities and equipment carried. The trade-off when selecting a soldier is between generality (for instance, a Rookie) and specialization (i.e. a Colonel). The more specialization, the better a soldier will be able to perform that specific role but if it is absent due to injury or incapacitated/killed, then your game play may be affected. In contrast, a more generic soldier will not be as effective in a specific role but it can more easily be replaced.

The choice between both types of soldier also reflects itself on the choice of class abilities at each rank. Each class is designed to favor 1 or more roles and the individual abilities reflect that design. Some abilities may also apply to two roles.