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XCOM 2: When to attack the first alien base

XCOM 2 is a race against time. The aliens are constantly working towards a secret project and the best way to combat their progress is to attack various bases revealed by intel and scanning. One such base is revealed early on, but just how well prepared do you need to be to take it on?

While it is tempting to wait until you have a full squad with weapon and armour upgrades before tackling the base, chances are progress on the AVATAR project will have moved along too far by the time you can do so. That means making some compromises.

While longer than most standard missions, you won’t be under any time pressure or coming up against any crazy new alien types. Your biggest concern will be with attrition, so you will want to be taking a squad of at least five soldiers into the mission, preferably one decent Specialist. This may require some delicate balancing of squads in the missions leading up to your attack, as injured soldiers take a fair amount of time to recover and you’ll want most of your best available.

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Weapon upgrades aren’t strictly necessary but EXO armour will be of big help both for the boost in health and by making available the power of rockets. You will get the chance to start concealed and without a time limit you should be able to heal, reload and prepare between encounters but being able to launch a rocket or take a shot here or there is a big help.

A well-equipped squad of four can probably handle this mission but I don’t think you need any more than five soldiers to tackle the first base, and you probably only need two or three of them armoured. Medkits will be more useful than grenades, a Specialist with upgraded healing protocols is a must if you are going in without much armour.

Don’t be afraid to tackle this one early, it isn’t going to throw any surprises at you. If you keep your soldiers out of harms way and progress carefully you won’t find it too tough, it certainly isn’t the spike in challenge that Enemy Unknown’s first alien base assault was.

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About the author

Stuart Gollan

From Amiga to Xbox One, Doom to Destiny, Megazone to Stevivor, I've been gaming through it all and have the (mental) scars to prove it. I love local multiplayer, collecting ridiculous Dreamcast peripherals, and Rocket League.