Part 15

Master XCOM: Enemy Within's Alien Landings and Terror Missions. Learn strategies for UFOs, council missions, and bomb disposal.

Alien Landings and Crash Landings missions in XCOM: Enemy Within involve collecting Meld. The strategy is to move at a steady pace, eliminating threats before they can retaliate. Meld containers can appear inside or on the roof of the UFOs. Each UFO also contains a boss character, the leader of that specific UFO's alien contingent. Early in the game, it is advised to delay researching Xeno Biology to prioritize better weapons and armor, which keeps the boss character relatively easy to defeat. As the story progresses, boss characters become significantly more powerful, requiring the entire squad to focus fire for elimination. Some bosses possess abilities that can lead to severe consequences for your soldiers if not managed carefully. However, engaging these leader bosses alone with adequate equipment should mitigate the threat.

Alien Terror Missions present a scenario where 15 civilians are scattered across the map and can be rescued by moving an XCOM soldier (or mech) within their rescue radius. Each rescued civilian contributes to your score. Simultaneously, aliens also score points by killing civilians. The tension of these missions can be amplified by the civilians' tendency to remain stationary and become easy targets. Your success in these missions depends on your approach: a commander focused on objectives may find them manageable by advancing steadily and eliminating alien squads before they can fire. However, if your priority is saving the civilians, you may face a more difficult challenge, as civilians often seek cover (press the cover button to crouch behind walls or objects) in disadvantageous locations, making simultaneous rescue and combat difficult. If you struggle with Terror Missions and keeping your squad intact, focus on eliminating aliens and advancing in a single direction. Avoid fanning out your squad, as this increases the chance of activating more alien squads. A concentrated spearhead allows for focused fire on alien threats. Strive to engage aliens while civilians are still present. Advancing too slowly will result in civilian casualties and no tangible benefit. Unrescued civilians may also become targets instead of your soldiers. The key to success in terror missions is to minimize the time aliens are alive. Rescue only one civilian to reduce panic and then advance as a group towards your chosen direction. Engage enemy squads one by one, and do not hesitate to use explosives even if civilians are in the crossfire. By prioritizing the elimination of aliens, you will reduce risks to your squad and potentially save more lives.

Council missions (generic variants)

After unlocking the Situation Room, you will receive missions from the Council. Ignoring bomb disposal and other missions may result in a lower Council rating but does not increase panic levels on the continent where the mission takes place. However, ignoring Council missions from a DLC (downloadable content — extra missions or items released after launch) (Downloadable Content) can result in the forfeiture of that entire DLC campaign. These missions can be very rewarding, though challenging on higher difficulties (e.g., Thin Men on Impossible). Be cautious when ignoring missions titled "Friends in low places" and "Progeny." You can safely ignore later missions from the Slingshot DLC and Progeny DLC, with the exception of the mission named "Gangplank." These missions are not detailed further to avoid spoilers, but their names are provided.

Missions marked as *can't skip* must be completed to avoid them disappearing permanently and locking the mission chain.

Slingshot DLC:

• Friends in low places (can't skip)
• Confounding light
• Completing Confounding Light triggers Gangplank shortly after (can't skip Gangplank)

Progeny DLC:

• Progeny (can't skip)
• Deluge and Furies can be skipped but appear after story progression.

Bomb disposal missions are challenging. They take place on one of five maps: a trainyard, a train station, a graveyard, a butcher shop, or a bridge. You typically have 3 turns until the bomb detonates. Your objective is to locate the bomb (a person-sized green container) and disable nodes to gain extra time (a half-cover green container). To disable a node or the bomb, position a soldier next to it. If the soldier has remaining action points, you can click on the bomb/node to disarm it. Otherwise, you must wait until the next turn. Thin Men are frequently encountered, and due to the time limit, you must advance steadily while eliminating enemies. The maps are often small, increasing the possibility of activating multiple alien squads simultaneously. Regardless of your soldiers' equipment, remember that...