Weapons (XCOM2)

Weapon Stats

Main Weapons

Rifles

Rifles are the standard issue weapons for Rookies, Specialists and Psi operatives. They are generalist weapons, not excelling in any particular situation. Clip size 4

Weapon	Base Damage	Listed Crit Damage 1	Actual Crit Damage 2	Critical Chance	Range	Mod Slots
Assault Rifle	3-5	?	5-7	0%	Medium	1
Mag Rifle	5-7	?	8-10	0%	Medium+	2
Plasma Rifle	7-9	?	11-13	0%	Medium++	2
1 Notes.

Shotguns

Shotguns can only be equipped by Rangers. They are high damage, short range weapons. They gain double aim bonus at close range relative to assault rifles, but suffer aim penalties at longer range. Clip size 4.

Weapon	Base Damage	Listed Crit Damage 1	Actual Crit Damage 2	Critical Chance	Range	Mod Slots
Shotgun	4-6	?	7-9	10%	Short	1
Shard Gun	6-8	?	10-12	15%	Short+	2
Storm Gun	8-10	?	13-15	20%	Short++	2
1 Notes.

Cannons

Cannons are the heavy weapons carried by Grenadiers. They do high damage but have smaller clips than assault rifles. Clip size 3.

Weapon	Base Damage	Listed Crit Damage 1	Actual Crit Damage 2	Critical Chance	Range	Shreds3	Mod Slots
Cannon	4-6	?	6-8	0%	Medium	1	1
Mag Cannon	6-8	?	9-11	0%	Medium+	2	2
Beam Cannon	8-10	?	12-14	0%	Medium++	3	2
3 Needs "Shredder" Ability

Sniper Rifles

Sniper rifles can only be used by Sharpshooters. They suffer penalties at short range. Although not unique to sniper rifles, firing sniper rifle beyond normal sight range with squad sight skill will be penalized base on distance. Sniper rifles require two actions to fire/overwatch. Clip size 3.

Weapon	Base Damage	Listed Crit Damage 1	Actual Crit Damage 2	Critical Chance	Range	Mod Slots
Sniper Rifle	4-6	?	6-8	10%	unlimited	1
Gauss Rifle	6-8	?	9-11	10%	unlimited	2
Plasma Lance	8-10	?	12-14	10%	unlimited	2
Sniper rifles will be able to shoot as long as the enemy is in a teammate LOS, but with an aim and critical chance penalty

SPARK Weapons

SPARK Weapons can only be equipped by SPARK units, introduced in the Shen's Last Gift DLC. Similar to the Grenadier's Cannon, they pack a punch and are capable of naturally shredding armor without any upgrades; however, due to the SPARK's poor Aim skill, they quickly fall off at longer ranges. Clip size 3.

The War of the Chosen DLC gave them the ability to upgrade their weapons with add-ons, similar to the other playablable classes.

Weapon	Base Damage	Listed Crit Damage 1	Actual Crit Damage 2	Critical Chance	Range	Shreds3	Mod Slots
Heavy Autocannon	4-6	N/A	N/A	0%	Medium	1	1
Helix Rail-Cannon	6-8	N/A	N/A	0%	Medium+	2	2
Elerium Phase-Cannon	8-10	N/A	N/A	0%	Medium++	2	3
3 Needs "Shredder" Ability

Secondary Weapons

Pistols

Pistols are secondary weapons carried by Sharpshooters, mainly as backup weapons when the Sharpshooter needs to move, but with Gunslinger perks they can become quite potent in their own right. They cannot receive weapons modification but will shoot specialized ammo if you equip them. They have no clip size and can be fired infinite times without reload.

Weapon	Base Damage	Listed Crit Damage 1	Actual Crit Damage 2	Critical Chance	Range
Pistol	2-3	?	?	0%	Short
Mag Pistol	3-4	?	?	?	Short+
Beam Pistol	3-6	?	?	0%	Short++
1 Notes.

Gremlin

Gremlins are carried by Specialists, these little robots can perform remote hacking and healing and can deal damage with the right perks, especially against mechanical enemies.

Weapon	Effect	Organic enemy damage	Mechanical enemy damage	Healing	Aid Protocol	Requirements
Gremlin	-	2	3-4	0	+20 defense	-
Gremlin Mk II	+20 Hack	4	7-8	+1	+30 defense	ADVENT Mech Autopsy
Gremlin Mk III	+40 Hack	6	10-11	+2	+40 defense	Sectopod Autopsy

Swords

Swords are the secondary weapons carried by Rangers.

Weapon	Base Damage	Listed Crit Damage 1	Actual Crit Damage 2	Critical Chance	Range	Effect	Requirements
Machete	3-5	?	?	10%	Melee	none	-
Arc Blade	4-6	?	?	15%	Melee	25% chance to stun	ADVENT Stun Lancer Autopsy
Fusion Blade	5-7	?	?	20%	Melee	chance to burn	Archon Autopsy
Hunter's Axe	4-6	?	?	10%	Melee	chance to burn	Alien Hunters DLC
Ionic Axe	5-7	?	?	15%	Melee	25% stun chance	ADVENT Stun Lancer Autopsy and the Hunter's Axe
Fusion Axe	?	?	?	?	Melee	?	Archon Autopsy and the Hunter's Axe
Blademaster adds +2 damage and +10 melee aim

Psi Amp

Psi Amps are the secondary weapons carried by Psi Operatives. They are used for all psionic attacks.

Weapon	Effect	Soul Fire	Void Rift	Null Lance	Requirements
Psi Amp	-	4-6	?	?	-
Advanced Psi Amp	+20 Psi	5-7	4-5	7-12	Sectoid Autopsy
Alien Psi Amp	+40 Psi	6-8	3-6	9-14	Gatekeeper Autopsy

Grenade Launchers

These can only be equipped by Grenadiers. They give bonus damage, range and blast radius on top of that normally given by the launched grenade.

Weapon	Bonus Damage	Bonus Range	Bonus Radius
Grenade Launcher	0	+4	+1
Advanced Grenade Launcher	?	+5	+2
1 Volatile mix adds +2 damage and +1 radius. There is no tier 3 Grenade Launcher

Grenades

Grenades can be carried by any class, but Grenadiers particularly excel with them, because they can launch them with extended range with their Grenade Launchers. Grenadiers also have an extra equipment slot that can only be used for a grenade.

Weapon	Damage	Range	Critical Chance2	Terrain Damage	Blast Radius	Shreds	Destroys cover	Effects	Requirements
Frag Grenade	3-4	10	0	3-4	3	1	yes	-	none
Plasma Grenade1	5-6	10	0	5-6	3	2	yes	-	Advanced Explosives (PG)
Flashbang Grenade	0	12	0	0	8	0	no	Disorients Organic enemies; reduces Aim and Mobility, and disables some abilities	none
Gas Grenade	3-4	10	0	0	5	1	no	Poisons Organic enemies (reduces mobility, does damage over time), creates Poison Gas cloud	Experimental Grenade (PG)
Gas Bomb1	6-7	10	0	0	6	2	no	Poisons Organic enemies (reduces mobility, does damage over time), creates Poison Gas cloud	Advanced Explosives (PG) Experimental Grenade (PG)
Incendiary Grenade	4-5	10	0	0	4	1	over time	Sets terrain & Organic enemies on fire (damage over time, disables some abilities)	Experimental Grenade (PG)
Incendiary Bomb1	6-7	10	0	0	4	2	over time	Sets terrain & Organic enemies on fire (damage over time, disables some abilities)	Advanced Explosives (PG) Experimental Grenade (PG)
Acid Grenade	3-4	10	0	0	3	2	no	Creates acid pools, damaging enemies, destroying terrain, and doing damage over time	Experimental Grenade (PG)
Acid Bomb1	5-6	10	0	0	3	4	no	Creates acid pools, damaging enemies, destroying terrain, and doing damage over time	Advanced Explosives (PG) Experimental Grenade (PG)
EMP Grenade	6	12	0	0	4	0	no	Only damages mechanical enemies and shields, disorients or incapacitates mechanical enemies	Bluescreen Protocol (PG)
EMP Bomb1	10	12	0	0	5	0	no	Only damages mechanical enemies and shields, disorients or incapacitates mechanical enemies	Advanced Explosives (PG) Bluescreen Protocol (PG)
Smoke Grenade	0	?	0	0	?	0	no	Grants Defense to units in cloud	none
Smoke Bomb1	0	?	0	0	?	0	no	Grants Defense to units in cloud	Advanced Explosives (PG)
Proximity Mine	8	12	0	0	5	2	yes	Explodes when an enemy is within the blast radius	Andromedon autopsy
Frost Bomb	0	?	0	0	?	0	no	Freezes enemies solid for a turn, preventing them from taking any form of action, even reactive abilities and Ruler Reactions	Alien Hunters DLC; either Experimental Warfare (Research, only with War of the Chosen's "Integrated DLC" option active) or completing the Alien Nest Investigation mission
1 Upgraded from previous version with Advanced Explosives Proving Ground project. 2Biggest Booms adds +20% critical chance and +2 critical damage, but only for Grenadiers.

Flashbangs are particularly useful against special enemies such as psionics. The disorientation effect prevents the use of most special abilities, including psionics, and will cut short any ongoing psionic effect such as Reanimate or Mind Control. Avatars and the Warlock are immune to Flashbangs, but can still be frozen.

Heavy Weapons

In order to use a heavy weapon a soldier must be equipped with an EXO or WAR Suit.

Weapon	Base Damage	Range	Shreds	Radius	Area type
Rocket Launcher	4-7	27	2	4	circle
Flamethrower	4-7	25	0	7	60 degree cone
Shredder Gun	6-9	25	2	12	cone
Blaster Launcher1	7-10	45	3	6	circle
Hellfire Projector1	6-9	25	0	7	60 degree cone
Shredstorm Cannon1	8-11	25	4	12	cone
Plasma Blaster12	7-10	25	0	1	Straight line (goes through walls)
1Requires Experimental Powered Weapon and WAR Suit. 2Plasma blaster ignores armor

Weapon Parts

Weapon mods come in three qualities: Basic, Advanced, and Superior, each offering better results over the previous one.

Weapon mods can be replaced, but cannot be reused, and thus consideration should be taken before immediately modding up a weapon. The continental bonus "Lock and Load" allows you to reuse mods.

Weapon mods remain on the soldiers weapon as you move up in the tech tree, ensuring that mods are not "wasted" as you progress in the game.

Each weapon can field only a limited number of mods; the continent bonus "Armed to the Teeth" gives you one extra mod slot on all weapons.

Mod	Effect	Basic	Advanced	Superior
Scope	Adds aim bonus	+5%	+10%	+15%
Laser Sight	Adds critical chance bonus	+5%	+10%	+15%
Repeater	Adds a small chance to instakill	+5%	+10%	+15%
Hair Trigger	Adds a chance of free shot	+5%	+10%	+15%
Auto-Loader	Free reload	+1	+2	+3
Expanded Magazine	Adds ammo capacity	+1	+2	+3
Stock	Guaranteed damage on missed shots	+1	+2	+3

Weapon part use

Autoloaders are probably best equipped on Sharpshooters. While they normally cannot reload and then fire their sniper rifle, the free reloads bypass this limitation. For a Kill Zone Sharpshooter, use an Expanded Magazine combined with a Repeater.

Expanded Magazine likely should go to Grenadiers, especially if you plan to go for the higher tier abilities which use 3 ammo at a time. Larger magazines make it more likely you'll have the ammo for these abilities, and its use is constant (unlike the limited-use Auto-Loaders.) Run & Gun/Rapid Fire Rangers also benefit a lot from Expanded Magazines.

As a rule of thumb, Auto-Loaders are superior to Expanded Magazines in regular missions as you will probably run out of aliens to kill before running out of free reloads. However, for the last mission, featuring well over 30 enemies, Expanded Magazines are a more effective choice.