XCOM 2 Tips: Weapon Upgrades Guide

This is an easy guide to upgrade weapons for each class of soldier in XCOM 2.

Please feel free to share comments whether questions or suggestions. If you enjoy it, please consider giving it a like or share so others can find it.

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XCOM 2: The Story So far - Earth has changed. Twenty years have passed since world leaders offered an unconditional surrender to alien forces. XCOM, the planet's last line of defense, was left decimated and scattered. Now, in XCOM 2, the aliens rule Earth, building shining cities that promise a brilliant future for humanity on the surface, while concealing a sinister agenda and eliminating all who dissent from their new order.

Only those who live at the edges of the world have a margin of freedom. Here, a force gathers once again to stand up for humanity. Always on the run, and facing impossible odds, the remnant XCOM forces must find a way to ignite a global resistance, and eliminate the alien threat once and for all.

Key Features:
• XCOM ON THE RUN: Take command of the Avenger, an alien supply craft converted to XCOM's mobile headquarters. New open-ended gameplay lets you decide where to guide your strike team, how to grow popular support, and when to combat enemy counter-operations.
• RECRUIT RESISTANCE FIGHTERS: Five soldier classes, each with its own skill tree, let you create specific soldiers for your tactical plan.
• TACTICAL GUERRILLA COMBAT: New gameplay systems offer more tactical flexibility in combat. Use concealment to ambush enemy patrols. Loot enemies for precious gear and artifacts. Rescue VIPs and save fallen comrades by carrying them to the extraction point.
• A NEW BREED OF ENEMY: A diverse cast of enemies from powerful new alien species to the ADVENT, enforcers of the alien regime, offer a distinct tactical challenge.
• RESEARCH, DEVELOP AND UPGRADE: Configure and build rooms on the Avenger to give XCOM new capabilities on the battlefield. Use your Scientists and Engineers to research, develop and upgrade weapons and armor to fit your preferred tactics.
• EACH MISSION IS A UNIQUE CHALLENGE: Go on missions around the world, from wildlands to the heart of the alien-controlled megacities, to the depths of alien installations. There are virtually infinite combinations of maps, missions and goals.
• CREATE CUSTOM MODS: Community-focused tools allow you to create your own campaign, tactical gameplay, aliens, classes, strategy game features, and share within the Steam Workshop.
• ENGAGE IN HEAD-TO-HEAD MULTIPLAYER: Mix-and-match squads of humans and aliens and battle head-to-head on randomly-generated maps.

[fitmcdeezy]

5 year old video and still helping noobs. Much appreciated sir

[jamesgrose]

"80% hit chance; you'll hit four out of five times."

Are you RNGesus or are we not playing the same XCOM

[uzairdurrani]

In XCOM, 80% accuracy means you will miss at least half your shots.

And 50% percent accuracy just means your soldier really hates that wall next to the alien and will do his best to destroy it.

[therealG-izcv]

Im glad you made all these videos, 7 years later they are really useful

[Odbarc]

Video game percentages:
You: 80% means 50% and 20% means 1%.
Them: 20% means 50% and 50% means 80%.

[DracoAvian]

I've found the repeater is pretty fun if you can equip your entire squad with them. A squad full of 10-15% chance of insta-killing makes those kings and queens much less dangerous. That and ambushes often see at least one enemy getting executed.

[bluedragonrob]

You are amazing for these. I just started playing and holy shit I got worked my first 2 days. Day 3 I had killed the King Snake and the Berzerker Queen and felt like I had cured cancer.

[TimbaWolf]

Personally, I like to assign repeaters to my grenadiers, or anyone who happens to pick up "Shredder" from the AWC, for that matter. Shredder troops are generally the first to fire on hardier targets like sectopods and gatekeepers, so it seems to me they're the best suited to capitalise on that bonus. Obviously, this means I have to compensate for the slightly lower aim stat, but I find prioritising them for the perception pcs does a pretty good job of that.

Mind you, none of this is intended as criticism for your guide; it's pretty solid, actually. I'm just throwing my own thoughts on that particular upgrade into the conversation. :P

[stevehamner]

Just getting started with XCOM 2 - really enjoying and learning a lot from your videos. I really like the summary page there at the end. It was good to know the 'why' for each decision, but being able to take notes from that summary really helped me be prepared for weapon upgrade time. Thanks again!

[Wudanthend]

killed the berserker ruler on my first shot with a repeater equipped. took me a second to figure out what happened lol. favorite weapon upgrade combo ( with continent bonus) is for the sharpshooter. 1)superior scope
2 ) superior expanded magazine
3) superior repeater

I called it "Hand of God"

[tudorcosmin-andrei]

Just got the game today and it’s lots of fun, it actually makes you think 💭

And with help from your channel, makes a lot of fun.

Many thanks again, greetings from Germany 🇩🇪

[GrandSupremeDaddyo]

I was debating the usefulness of a repeater on my Specialist. She missed a crucial shot and I was on the backfoot for several turns. She was heavily wounded and I tried to evac her when she stumbled across a Sectopod.

She one-shotted it and restored my faith in RNGesus.

[AkidZolkifli]

I was going to rematch the video to write the notes you said, but you summarised it at the end! So so helpful!

[passionfly]

Thank you for making this video! Now I have to restart my game because I was putting the wrong upgrades on the wrong weapons for the wrong classes (I also built my base very poorly too). All of your recommendations make perfect sense now! Thank you!

[serder]

Personally, I had a couple of rifles with scopes only to help with squaddies/recruits aim.

[alihunter]

Reminds me of whats considered a "fun" maths problem thats often taught in math classes as its considered relatable by gamer teens. Its statically better to never miss than do more damage with a hit. Its a point that i learned about when i first got into table top games but it goes back a long way in strategic war games and pretty much applies across the board. The damage loss from missing a shot pretty much always negates the gamble and damage loss of a miss and potential reaction from the target. Always go for accuracy over damage total. The same idea works with Crits in games. 100% crit chance typically gives 150-200% damage. Thats likely to negate any damage bonus on a gamble with high damage in the long run. The outcome is accuracy first, crit chance second, crit damage 3rd (if it even applies in whatever game), base damage 4th. *shudder* theres defo a crossing point from considering yourself a cool kid thats a bit nerdy...to being the guy that just typed that... sorry

[AdvancedSquadLeader]

The picture in the end, GOLDEN. Thanks

[TheStygian]

The repeater has served me very well...

I had the story Avenger defence mission. (At the time the hardest mission I faced yet because there were simply that many enemies rushing me.) And ofcourse the nightmarish King Archon shows up! Who ploughed through my team in the previous mission and left them limping and carrying their unconscious home before it escaped!

So - while I was being overrun by 3 mech's, 2 archon's, 2 spectres and an assortment of Advent soldiers and zombies (there was also an undying loyalty dark event) my unassuming specialist fucking blew the king Archon's brains out while he was in the middle of my team. Just flat out one shot it at 2/3 health. That saved the whole mission!

And in 2 other battles the same specialist (Her name was Andrea) also one shot the Assassin and Warlock chosen on 2 separate occasions. Absolutely hilarious and satisfying.

[Teetavares]

love the videos you have helped me big time, I started playing on ps4.

[richardbohacik]

Yeah, repeater is quite a fun thing. I had it on one in superior quality of my grenadiers and he took down sectopoid down with the first shot on two consecutive missions and at least one full health gate keeper, I have enjoyed it a lot 😄 And one grenadier had expanded magazine and one had autoloader and both worked fine :)