XCOM 2: Alien Hunters DLC and May Update Now Live

By Austin Phoenix,
External image


Alien Hunters, the second DLC pack for XCOM 2, adds exciting new gameplay content to your campaign. Available now for $9.99 or as part of the Reinforcement Pack, Alien Hunters features a narrative-driven mission, new weapons and armor, a new “Hunter’s Lodge” update to the Avenger’s Armory, plus three new “Ruler” alien units to combat.

These new Rulers, including the Viper King, are quite formidable, Commander. They will show up at random in your campaign, once you’ve completed the new narrative mission, and each will have their own unique behavior and tactics, so don’t expect them to act like their subordinates. If you can’t take out a ruler quick enough, the alien will escape to fight another day. We believe these rulers are incredibly intelligent and are pursuing your soldiers across the globe.

You won’t be without help in this new fight, however, as "Alien Hunters" also includes four new one-of-a-kind weapons: the Bolt Caster, a high damage single-shot weapon; the Hunter’s Axe, a powerful new blade weapon that can be thrown at enemies or used to dispatch foes at close range; the ShadowKeeper pistol, which has the Shadowfall ability that is guaranteed to hit and will place its user in concealment if the enemy is killed; and the Frost Bomb grenade, which is able to temporarily freeze targets. Chief Shen has asked us to point out that each of these weapons is a prototype, so if a soldier equipping any of these weapons falls in battle, be sure to physically carry them to the Skyranger or else you’ll lose the weapons forever.

On top of the new weapons, there are also three new suits of armor that can be unlocked in "Alien Hunters". Each armor set is created from the corpse of a Ruler alien, and provides unique tactical abilities for the wearer. Each unique armor set also strikes fear into the subordinate alien caste. For example, the Icarus Suit is outfitted with powerful boosters that allow its wearer to fly around the map for maximum mobility.



Alien Hunters also includes a compatibility patch for XCOM 2. This patch will include authentication for Alien Hunters, as well as general bug fixes, balancing in the single player, performance optimizations and a rebalanced multiplayer experience for the base game.

"Alien Hunters" requires XCOM 2 to play and is available now for $9.99. If you already own the "Reinforcement Pack", do not purchase this DLC separately as you will be charged for it.

XCOM 2 May Patch

A new patch for XCOM 2 is now live! The patch will automatically install when starting the Steam client. If it doesn’t install automatically, restart Steam.

Downloading the patch introduces new bug fixes, balance tweaks, and performance optimizations on top of a rebalanced multiplayer experience and new modding functionality. Hop into a few MP games and let us know what you think of the new ability loadouts and point values!

The XCOM 2 team is continuing their work on improving the experience for everyone. Stay tuned for more updates and news!

Gameplay

- Fixed an issue where the doom countdown timer was refilling after the Avatar bar filled up
- Repeater no longer triggers after Stock damage or damage done over time
- Mimic Beacons can no longer be reanimated
- Mimic Beacons can no longer be targeted by Aid Protocol
- Zombie Soldiers count towards “Soldiers Dead” counter
- Evac zones can no longer be placed on a soldier
- Fixed an issue where XCOM units were hitching after pod reveals
- Fixed an issue where armor was not resetting properly after restarting the Avenger Defense mission
- Fixed a crash that would occur after opening an ADVENT garage door
- Soldiers equipped with the Hazmat Vest will no longer be affected by Acid Burn when pathing over Acid
- Fixed an issue where loot was not being given to the player after killing an enemy next to a soldier with a hacked turret
- Fixed multiple issues that would occur when a Gatekeeper is killed while affected by Chryssalid poison
- Specialists can no longer receive the Phantom ability through the Advanced Warfare Center
- Fixed an issue where certain AOE attacks could be used when selected while the unit was in movement
- Grenade damage rebalance
> Plasma Grenade Dmg: 5-6 -> 4-5
> Acid Bomb Dmg: 5-6 -> 4-5
> Fire Bomb Dmg: 6-7 -> 5-6
> Gas Bomb Dmg: 5-6 -> 4-5
> Proximity Mine Dmg: 8 -> 6
> Gas Grenade Radius: 5 -> 4
> Gas Bomb Radius: 6 -> 5
> Proximity Mine Radius: 5-> 4
> Volatile Mix Ability no longer grants grenade radius bonus

Multiplayer

- MP balance changes (more details below)
- ADVENT and Alien units with weapons have been given range bonuses/penalties
- Fixed an issue where squads would be deleted when saving and editing Loadouts
- Fixed an issue where new squads were not being created upon selecting “Save As New Loadout” in the Edit Loadouts Menu
- Fixed an issue where weapon customizations were not saved when created in the Squad Loadout
- Fixed an issue where the Stun Lancer’s charge attack was causing players to desync

Gameplay/Visualization

- Fixed an issue where Skulljacked units floated too high in the air
- Fixed an issue where weapons inappropriately remained in the hands of soldiers
- Fixed an issue where grenades were causing environmental damage on their way to the target
- Fixed an issue where XCOM soldiers and Psi-Zombies were able to share the same tile
- Fixed multiple animation issues caused when carrying an unconscious unit
- Fixed an issue where a soldier remained bound by a Viper’s Bind and Crush ability after killing it
- Fixed an issue where explosions would occur early

Performance

- Removed a hitch that would occur when building visibility is disabled/enabled
- Fixed an issue causing lighting to appear dark when launching the title on specific AMD setups

Systems

- Fixed an issue where the default setting for the Anarchy’s Children slider in the options menu was inconsistent between platforms
- Fixed an issue where enemy weapons would continuously ragdoll after a unit was killed
- Fixed an issue where the Loadout screen music plays after loading a Strategy save mid-mission
- Fixed a crash that would occur when accessing the ADVENT Broadcast Network mission while mods were active on the Geoscape

UI

- Implemented a ‘Select All Mods’ button
- Extended the character length for bios
- Adjusted some prewritten soldier bios
- Fixed an issue where users could access locked customization options
- Fixed an issue where the wrong options were sometimes appearing in the Gameplay tab in the Options menu
- Fixed an issue where tooltips would not show when viewing the Options menu

Modding/SDK

- Game state classes can now be overridden
- The ‘static’ scope keyword now works with override classes, allowing static functions to be overridden
- The X2DownloadableContentInfo class has been extended to provide many new hooks for events such as mission start/end
- The X2DownloadableContent class can now route ‘exec’ functions (console commands) allowing mods to implement their own cheats

Multiplayer Balance Changes:

ADVENT:

Trooper:

HP: 3->4
Aim: 65->70
Flank Crit Chance: 33->40

Officer:

HP: 12->7
Aim: 75->78
Flank Crit Chance: 33->40
WpnDmg: (6-7)->(3-4)
GrndDmg: (3-4)->(2-3)

Stun Lancer:

HP: 6->7
Aim: 65->70
Mobility: 12->14
Flank Crit Chance: 33->40

Shieldbearer:

HP: 6->8
Aim: 70->75
Flank Crit Chance: 33->40

MEC:

HP: 7->9
Aim: 75->78
Flank Crit Chance: 33->40
Defense: 0->10

Aliens:

Sectoid:

HP: 8->10
Aim: 75->78
Flank Crit Chance: 33->40
Psi Offense: 90->100
WpnDmg: (3-4)->(3-5)
Armor Shred: +1
Cost: 800 -> 1000

Faceless:

HP: 10->14
Aim: 75->80
Regen: 2->4
Mobility 14->15
MeleeDmg: (3-4)->(3-6)
Cost: 1000->800

Viper:

HP: 8->10
Aim: 75->78
Flank Crit Chance: 33->40
WpnDmg: (3-5)->(4-5)
Armor Shred: +1
Cost: 1500->1200

Muton:

HP: 8->10
Armor: 1->2
Flank Crit Chance: 33->40

Codex:

Teleport now has 1 turn cooldown
Clone now only triggers off of enemy attacks
Armor Shred: +1

Berserker:

HP: 18->20
Aim: 75->80
Can now travel 2 moves before using Devastating Blow

Archon:

Aim: 75->78
Flank Crit Chance: 33->40
Cost: 1750->2000
Blazing Pinions now has 3 turn cooldown
Armor Shred: +1

Chryssalid:

Aim: 75->80
Burrow now has a 2 turn cooldown, cooldown starts on unborrow.
Cost: 1250->1200

Andromedon:

Flank Crit Chance: 33->40

Sectopod:

Cost: 6000->8000

Gatekeeper:

Cost: 5000->6000
Armor Shred: +1

Spawned Units:

Psi Zombie:

HP: 6->8
Aim: 65->75
Can now travel 2 moves before using melee attack

Andromedon Robot:

Can now travel 2 moves before using Fist Strike

XCOM:

Phantom Ranger:

Removed Conceal ability, still starts out match concealed
Cost: 3000 -> 3200

Blademaster Ranger:

Conventional Sword->Arc Blade
Cost: 2500->2800

Sniper Sharpshooter:

Gunslinger Sharpshooter:

Cost: 2500->3000

Heavy Gunner Grenadier:

Cost: 2500->3200

Demo Expert Grenadier:

Cost: 2500->3200

Battlefield Medic Specialist:

Cost: 3000 -> 2800

Combat Hacker Specialist:

Aid Protocol defense now same as Battlefield Medic
Cost: 3000 -> 3200

Psi Operative:

Mind Control cooldown increased from 3 to 5

Items:

Mindshield:

Cost: 250 -> 200

Battle Scanner:

Cost: 600 -> 400

Tracer Rounds:

Cost: 300 -> 100

Hellweave:

Cost: 400 -> 200

Stasis Vest:

Cost: 600 -> 400

Hazmat Vest:

Cost: 300 -> 100

Smoke Grenade:

Removed
More XCOM 2 stories:
Austin Phoenix
Written by Austin Phoenix
Site Moderator, Walkthrough Manager and Newshound here on TSA. Moderator, Walkthrough Supervisor and Site Help Editor over on TA.

Space Cowboy in my free time.
View discussion...
Hide ads