Xcom 2 Long War Guide Jun 2026

In vanilla, killing all enemies in one turn is the goal. In LW2, pods are larger (often 7-12 enemies), and they are "kinetic"—meaning if you shoot a gun, any pod nearby might hear it and run to help. You cannot kill a whole pod in one turn easily. You must plan for a prolonged engagement.

Use Sentinel and Cool Under Pressure builds. Specialists can lock down entire fields of movement, punishing ADVENT units that try to flank you.

In vanilla, the Technical is awkward. In Long War, the Technical is your "Delete Pod" button. A pod of 5 Vipers hiding behind full cover? You don't shoot them. You run your Technical into flanking range (Grazing Fire doesn't matter) and fire the flamethrower. Burning enemies cannot shoot, cannot take cover, and panic. One action. Five enemies neutralized. Build for "Burnout" and "Napalm-X." Never use the rocket launcher; the flamethrower is a control tool, not a damage tool. xcom 2 long war guide

Exponentially increases enemy counts and speeds up reinforcements. Never launch a mission below 100% unless it is an absolute emergency. Squad Composition Rules

This is your default focus. Assigning Rebels to Intel detects alien activities, giving you missions with longer expiration timers so you can infiltrate properly. In vanilla, killing all enemies in one turn is the goal

In early-game regions, set most rebels to Intel to discover missions. Once a region is "liberated," set rebels to Supplies to gather resources.

Advent has two invisible stats per region: Vigilance (your activity there) and Strength (Advent troop density). You must plan for a prolonged engagement

Havens are your rebel cells. You assign them jobs:

In every region XCOM contacts, you manage a Haven filled with local resistance rebels. You must micro-manage their assignments to match your immediate regional goals:

When a soldier bleeds out but survives, they become "Shaken." They lose will and gain negative traits (e.g., "Fear of Psionic Attacks"). Most players dismiss them. Wrong. A Shaken soldier with a Stock and a Scope on a Resistance haven jailbreak mission is still a legal soldier. Use them as "Operation Fodder" on very easy missions to cure their trauma. Burning a soldier for one mission to regain a Sergeant is a fair trade.