XCOM 2: War of the Chosen

XCOM 2: War of the Chosen is the expansion pack to XCOM 2. The expansion introduces 3 new elite alien enemies called the Chosen, as well as 3 'hero classes' represented by different factions XCOM will have to win over. The DLC also introduces the Lost, former humans that will attack both XCOM and ADVENT forces on the battlefield.

War of the Chosen was released on August 27, 2017 for Windows users. It was released on August 29 for Mac and Linux users, and in September for consoles.

New Enemies

• ADVENT Purifier: A flamethrower-equipped ADVENT soldier that is immune to fire, poison, and acid. It will try to burn enemies with its flamethrower and incendiary grenades, and may explode when killed.
• ADVENT Priest: ADVENT psionic support troops that can buff allies with a Mind Merge-like ability and disable soldiers with Stasis. Later versions can trigger Sustain when they might normally die or even use Mind Control.
• Spectre: A bizarre alien that knocks soldiers unconscious to create shadow clones under its control. It can enter concealment and drain health, and has Lightning Reflexes to make Overwatch less effective.
• The Lost: Humans mutated into zombie-like creatures by the alien bio-weapons unleashed in the original invasion. They are weak individually, but travel in massive groups that pose a much greater threat. Explosions attract the attention of Lost swarms, but they are weak to fire.

The Chosen

The titular antagonists of the expansion, the Chosen are said to be the greatest champions of the Elders. Following the Commander's return, they were ordered to recapture him and will stop at nothing to do so.

Like EXALT, they will interfere in the strategic layer of the game with methods such as reducing income, destroying inventory items, making Scientists and Engineers unusable.

While each of them is dangerous in battle and can show up on normal missions without warning, their true threat comes from their ability to Daze soldiers. Dazed soldiers are unable to act and can be interrogated or even kidnapped by the Chosen so they can gather enough information about XCOM to assault the Avenger. Captured soldiers continue to provide information until freed by a Covert Action.

The Chosen recieve a procedurally generated set of strengths and weaknesses each campaign, augmenting their already impressive abilities but providing XCOM a means to fight them more effectively. Their stats also increase as the game goes on, making them an increasingly greater threat over time.

While the Chosen can be slain in battle, they will continually revive and continue their efforts to recapture the Commander until XCOM can find and attack the strongholds which hold the equipment that lets them come back from the dead; this is accomplished through a chain of Covert Actions. Successfully assaulting a Chosen's stronghold to kill them for good will allow XCOM to use that Chosen's weapons, which possess an extra upgrade slot, are fully upgraded, and possess unique secondary abilities that make them superior to other weapons of their type.

The Assassin

The Assassin excels at stealth tactics, entering concealment to ambush a soldier before immediately withdrawing out of sight and entering concealment anew. She can throw special grenades that dramatically reduce line of sight and is able to project an energy wave that dazes multiple targets at once. Her melee attacks are guaranteed to hit and cannot be dodged, and will also bypass up to 5 armor.

The Hunter

The Hunter prefers to keep a long distance from XCOM, using his Tracking Shot to pick off soldiers from the opposite side of the map. When they get close enough to see him, he will attack them with rifle shots and his pistol, and will also try to Daze them with either a long-range attack or a grenade. He also carries a grappling hook to help him reposition.

The Warlock

The Warlock is second only to the Elders themselves in terms of psionic potential; as the Chosen are all immune to mental impairment effects, this makes him especially dangerous. Though equipped with an assault rifle, he prefers to hang back and use his powers to cripple XCOM as his henchmen finish them off. Among his abilities are a chain daze, teleporting allies, mind controlling multiple soldiers at once, and summoning spectral entities to fight for him.

XCOM Changes

Facilities

• The Advanced Warfare Center (XCOM2) has been split into two separate buildings:
  • The Infirmary improves the recovery time of wounded soldiers and can be staffed with an Engineer to speed up recovery further. When upgraded, an Elerium Core can be spent to restore a soldier to perfect condition immediately, but they will revert to their prior state after a mission and can only benefit from restoration once per campaign. Staffing a soldier in the Infirmary will allow them to remove negative traits.
  • The Training Center allows soldiers to buy abilities with the AP they and XCOM have accumulated, which include both the ones in their innate skill trees and a selection of randomly chosen skills from other classes that are not otherwise available. Staffing a soldier here refunds their AP (but only AP they have personally earned- AP from XCOM's global pool will be lost) to let them re-select their skills, and bonded soldiers can be staffed to improve their bonds beyond level 1.
• The Resistance Ring enables XCOM to work with the Resistance Factions to useCovert Actions, and allows XCOM to benefit from Resistance Orders- passive benefits that apply to both the strategic and tactical layers.