Weapons (EU2012)

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

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

Tech Levels

Your soldiers' primary weapons will fall under three tech tiers/levels: Conventional, Laser, and Plasma.

Conventional Weapons

Conventional weapons include the X-9 Assault Rifle, the standard issue for all XCOM rookies, Supports and Assaults, as well as Class-specific ballistic weapons, and the Frag Grenade. You have unlimited amounts of conventional weapons.

Conventional weapons can't destroy terrain features, with the exception of the Frag Grenade and the Rocket Launcher, which is one of their biggest drawbacks when compared to Laser/Plasma weapons. Their Damage level is adequate against the initial aliens encountered but as advanced races start to appear they will become less and less useful.

• Conventional Weapons
• 

  Pistol

• 

  Assault Rifle

• 

  Shotgun

• 

  Sniper Rifle

• 

  LMG

• 

  Rocket Launcher

• 

  Minigun (EW DLC)

Laser Weapons

The Laser level is one of the larger priorities for early research. Descriptions imply some pre-war laser weapons development, but the attempts were failures due to overheating issues (and may explain why a laser shotgun has pump-action: some kind of cooling mechanism), and that the models XCOM produces are just on this side of "safe" and have been made operable by techniques derived from captured alien weapons.

It is only required to complete research on 3 topics to unlock all 6 laser weapons: Beam Weapons (Laser Pistol and Laser Rifle), Precision Lasers (Laser Sniper Rifle and Scatter Laser) and Heavy Lasers (Heavy Laser and Laser Cannon for aircraft).

Interrogating a Sectoid halves all laser-research time by half, and their engineering requires the durable alien alloys. Council requests will occasionally ask for these, and you can agree to them at a fair markup of the production cost to your benefit.

• Laser Weapons
• 

  Laser Pistol

• 

  Laser Rifle

• 

  Scatter Laser

• 

  Laser Sniper Rifle

• 

  Heavy Laser

• 

  Railgun (EW DLC)

Plasma Weapons

The Plasma level weapons are reverse-engineered alien technology, and even carry some improvements, in the case of Alloy Cannons, Blaster Launcher, and Plasma Sniper Rifles. When these are fully acquired, the playing field becomes more equal, but you'll be also facing some of the toughest aliens. Naturally, their research takes the longest time and requires captured advanced materials, and will often be among your final research projects. Research time can be halved by interrogating a Muton, and Engineering requires both alloys and Elerium to power them. However, capturing an alien weapon (either by stunning an alien, or MCing it and letting it get killed), recovers it intact, and can be modified for human ergonomics at no cost (once that kind of weapon has been researched). Late-game, these will be frequently be requested by Council nations, and can be thusly sold for a massive profit.

• Plasma Weapons
• 

  Plasma Pistol

• 

  Light Plasma Rifle

• 

  Plasma Rifle

• 

  Alloy Cannon

• 

  Plasma Sniper Rifle

• 

  Heavy Plasma

• 

  Blaster Launcher

• 

  Particle Cannon (EW DLC)

Weapon Stats

Precision Weapons

Pistols

Weapon	Base Damage	Crit Damage	Critical Chance	Range	Class	Terrain Damage	Abilities
Pistol	1-2	2-4	0	Medium	All except Heavy	10	Unlimited ammo
Laser Pistol	1-3	3-5	10	Medium	All except Heavy	125	Unlimited ammo
Plasma Pistol	2-4	5-7	0	Medium	All except Heavy	125	Unlimited ammo

• Pistols are secondary weapons, designed to be carried as a complementary sidearm, to be used either in regular fire or in Overwatch mode.
• They have low power and nearly all have a zero chance for critical hits but they don't need to be reloaded.
• Pistol Critical Hit chance, Aim Bonus, and Base Damage of can be increased via Foundry research. Pistol upgrades don't stack with S.C.O.P.E. and its upgrade.
• Generally speaking, upgraded Pistols should be given to Snipers, then to shotgun wielding Assault soldiers (for Overwatch at longer ranges).
• Pistols cannot be used by the Heavy class due to them being replaced by Rocket Launchers.

Assault Rifles

Weapon	Base Damage	Crit Damage	Critical Chance	Range	Class	Terrain Damage	Abilities
Assault Rifle	2-4	5-7	10	Short	Assault/Support/Rookie	20
Laser Rifle	4-6	8-10	10	Medium	Assault/Support/Rookie	125
Light Plasma Rifle	4-6	8-10	10	Medium	Assault/Support/Rookie	125	Aim +10
Plasma Rifle	6-8	11-13	10	Medium	Assault/Support/Rookie	125	None

• Assault Rifles are most common squad weapon, offering medium firepower and versatility.
• They can be used by Rookies, Assault and Support classes, but not Snipers or Heavies.
• They are an upgrade from pistols but their damage ratings are below those of specialized firearms (Shotgun, LMG, Sniper Rifle)
• They are both capable of Overwatch and Suppression, as well as inflicting Critical Hits.

Shotguns

Weapon	Base Damage	Crit Damage	Critical Chance	Range	Class	Terrain Damage	Abilities
Shotgun	3-5	6-8	20	Short	Assault	40	Limited range
Laser Scatter	5-7	9-11	20	Medium	Assault	125	Limited range
Alloy Cannon	8-10	14-16	20	Medium	Assault	125	Limited range

• Shotguns are close-range, high-power firearms capable of inflicting Critical Hits.
• All shotguns receive a aim penalty if the target is too far. However, they receive a higher Aim bonus at closer range relative to rifles.

LMG and Heavy Rifles

Weapon	Base Damage	Crit Damage	Critical Chance	Range	Class	Terrain Damage	Abilities
LMG	3-5	6-8	0	Medium	Heavy	60
Heavy Laser	5-7	9-11	0	Medium	Heavy	125
Heavy Plasma	8-10	14-16	0	Medium	Heavy	125

• Heavy rifles are an upgrade to Assault Rifles on damage capability.
• Due to their size they can only be carried by Heavy troopers.
• In addition to Overwatch, they also offer the possibility of Suppression for soldiers who possess that ability.
• LMG offers significant less ammo before reloading. 3/6 rounds (before/after Ammo Conservation upgrade), compare to Assault Rifle's 4/8 rounds. This means LMG is less efficient at Suppression (1/3) compare to Support's Rifle Suppression (2/4).
• All tiers of S.H.I.V. carry the LMG/Heavy Laser/Heavy Plasma with similar stats and ammo count.

Sniper Rifles

Weapon	Base Damage	Crit Damage	Critical Chance	Range	Class	Terrain Damage	Abilities
Sniper Rifle	3-5	6-8	25	Long	Sniper	30	Limited move
Laser Sniper Rifle	5-7	9-11	30	Long	Sniper	125	Limited move
Plasma Sniper Rifle	8-10	14-16	35	Long	Sniper	125	Limited move

• Sniper rifles have the best Damage and Critical Hit chance (which increases with each tech upgrade) of all non-explosive firearms.
• They also have a range of 100, although it requires for the Sniper to have the Squad Sight ability to shoot targets out of their own sight.
• Units revealed by a Battle Scanner are counted as being in the throwing Sniper's own vision for firing purposes(if they don't have Squad Sight, for example.)
• Their drawbacks are their restrictions on movement and firing (which can be addressed with the Snap Snot ability with a -20% Aim penalty).
• Unlike other weapons (Assault Rifle, LMG, Shotgun). Sniper rifles will receive a Aim penalty if the target is too close. However, this does not mean that Sniper Rifle will receive bonus against distant targets. It will just receive no penalty.

MEC Primary Weapons (EW DLC)

Weapon	Base Damage	Crit Damage	Critical Chance	Class	Terrain Damage	Abilities
Minigun	4-6	8-10	10	MEC Trooper	60	Collateral Damage
Railgun	6-8	11-13	10	MEC Trooper	125	Collateral Damage
Particle Cannon	9-11	15-17	10	MEC Trooper	125	Collateral Damage

• These weapons can only be used by MEC Troopers, a new class of soldiers introduced on the Enemy Within DLC.
• Unlike other precision weapons, they allow for a MEC Trooper to directly target and destroy terrain through the Collateral Damage ability, although it will consume a lot of the weapon's ammunition.
• MEC Troopers with the Vital Point Targeting ability gain a static +2 damage bonus against any enemy which you have completed Autopsy research for. This includes EXALT soldiers.
• MEC Trooper weapons have the lowest ammo of any in the game, containing only two shots without Ammo Conservation or Expanded Storage training. Get used to reloading a lot.

Other Precision Weapons

Weapon	Damage	Critical Chance	Class	Terrain Damage	Abilities
Arc Thrower	0	0	Any	0	No reaction shot
Drone Beam	2	0	Drone	2	Repair
Death Blossom	8	10	Cyberdisc	2	Suppression +3
Heat Ray	20	25	Sectopod	801
Psi Lance	10	25	Ethereal	0

Area Weapons

Launchers

Weapon	Damage	Critical Chance	Class	Terrain Damage	Blast Radius	Abilities
Rocket Launcher	6	0	Heavy	500	336	Limited move No reload
Blaster Launcher	9	0	Heavy	500	336	Limited move No reload
Poison	?	0	Thin Man	0	175	Suppression 20%
Cluster Bomb	6	25	Sectopod	250	144	Limited move No reload
Chest Cannon	10	0	Sectopod	801	144	Suppression 40% Overwatch
Flamethrower EW DLC	6	0	MEC Trooper	*	Arc	Fire takes time to destroy cover
Grenade Launcher EW DLC	4	0	MEC Trooper	125	300
Proximity Mine Launcher EW DLC	8	0	MEC Trooper	125	300
Electro Pulse EW DLC	5	0	MEC Trooper	0	300	Disables robotic units for 1 turn

• Launchers can pack a high explosive charge capable of inflicting damage over a large area and knocking out terrain features.
• They have restrictions on movement and firing and are usually 1 shot weapons.

Grenades

Weapon	Damage	Critical Chance	Class	Terrain Damage	Blast Radius	Abilities
Frag Grenade	3	0	Any	250	240
Smoke Grenade	NA	0	Support	0	336	Defense +20
Alien Grenade	5	0	Any	250	240
Needle Grenade EW DLC	3	0	Any	0	240	Doesn't destroy cover
Gas Grenade EW DLC	1	0	Any	0	240	Damage applied per turn, between 1-3 turns
Ghost Grenade EW DLC	NA	0	Any	0	240	Causes units on radius to be invisible
Flashbang Grenade EW DLC	0	0	Any	0	240	-50 aim and movement for enemy units in radius for 1 turn

Melee Weapons

Weapon	Damage	Critical Chance	Class	Terrain Damage	Abilities
Chryssalid Claw	6	20	Chryssalid	1	No reaction shot
Zombie Fist	8	0	Zombie	1	No reaction shot
Muton Blade	9	33	Berserker	125	No reaction shot
Kinetic Strike Module EW DLC	12	0	MEC Trooper	0

See Also

• Soldier Classes
• Soldier Abilities