XCOM” Enemy Within is the expansion to XCOM: Enemy Unknown and adds new content, soldiers, enemies, maps and weapons. The main story is the same but some additional content has been added.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is one of the best tactical games ever made. You take control of an XCOM base as you research new technologies, recruit soldiers and engage in combat against aliens.

Negotiate with governments around the world to keep them in the alliance and secure their funding. Fly around the world to face the alien threats as they appear and take part in over 70 unique missions. The Operation Slingshot DLC adds a linked series of council missions that will have you fighting aliens in the sky over China. It also includes new customization options and a new soldier.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown/Within Tips

Satellites are your main source of funding and help to ease panic levels. Always have satellites in production, they take 20 days to build, so you can launch them by the end of the month. You’ll be able to save any nations that would otherwise leave the council.

Use the Gray Market to sell off unwanted alien items and corpses. Be careful about selling off alien technology early in the game until you know what you need. You can always sell off damaged UFO parts won’t be needed. Never sell off Elerium, Alloys or intact UFO components.

Always try to place your soldiers in at least half cover. There generally is no time limit, except for gathering Meld, so you can take your time and keep some of your soldiers in overwatch as you move up.

Wounded soldiers take time to recover and won’t be available until they fully heal. Bring new recruits out with experienced soldiers so they can level up and give you more options for future missions. Buy Rapid Recovery from the Officer Training School once someone has reached the rank of lieutenant. This reduces recovery time by half.

XCOM: Enemy Within Story Walkthrough

Things to Know

Even if you’ve played a few times before start with the Tutorial on. This will give you a refresher and also provide you with a free Satellite once the tutorial is finished.

The Operation Slingshot missions are entirely optional but will provide you with extra cash and some high level weapons. The missions are also not too difficult so I recommend keeping them on.

You MUST complete the council mission. One will appear early on in the game, the second appears randomly and the last two appear towards the later stages of the game. The concil missions are Portent, Deluge, Furies, and Newfoundland.

When a mission appears you have from a few hours to perhaps a day to go and sort it out. If you leave it the mission will disappear. Generally you should take immediate action if you don’t want to fail a mission.

Completing the Game (Quick Summary)

The story missions such as capturing an Outsider and assaulting the alien base don’t need to be done straight away. You may want to hold off on completing them until you fee you are ready.

Capture an Outsider: The first objective is to capture an Outsider. To do this you’ll need to have first built an Alien Containment facility in your base and have an Arc Thrower equipped on one of your soldiers. Arc Throwers are more effective when targeting weakened enemies. Use pistols to damage an alien to under 3 health and then go in with the Arc Thrower.

Arc Throwers are items, not weapons, so you can use them with the “Run and Gun” ability. You can research Arc Throwers after researching Xeno-Biology. They can then be purchased from the Workshop.

Alien Base Assault: Once you have the Outsider Shard you can research it for one of your research projects. This reveals the location of the Alien Base and provides you with a Skeleton Key that you can use to get access to the base. There is no rush to enter the base. Once you have it revealed it will remain on the map until you complete the mission.

The Alien Base is a long map with 22+ aliens. Move your soldiers up slowly and always have a couple on overwatch. Make sure all your soldiers are ready before you open a new door as you’ll likely trigger new enemies.

In the final room of the Alien Base you’ll find a Sectoid Commander. You’ll need to capture a commander at some stage so this is the perfect time to do it. The Commander in this mission is alone so use whatever tactics you can to get up close to him and use the Arc Thrower. Smoke grenades gave me enough cover to get close but you may prefer something a little higher tech.

XCOM Base Defense: After completing the Alien Base Assault you’ll have 10-20 days before the aliens launch a counter attack. The total number of aliens will be up to 44 on Normal difficulty. The types of enemies will depend on which month you are in during the attack. The exact spawn points and enemy types are randomized.

You won’t be able to choose soldiers for this mission. Instead the top 6 soldiers will be assigned. Make sure they are equipped at all times or they’ll enter the mission with only basic equipment!

You begin with only your top 3 XCOM soldiers. The rest will be made up of Security Personnel. They only have basic equipment and are much like a rookie. When some die you’ll be sent reinforcements, including your other 3 soldiers. You can never have more than 8 troops on your side, including XCOM soldiers and base security personnel.

The easiest strategy for this mission is to place all of your soldiers on the second level in the starting room. As the enemies funnel through the doorway you can take them out.

Once you research Hyperwave Communication and build the Hyperwave Relay facility to activate the beacon you’ll soon spot an Overseer UFO. You’ll need to intercept it and shoot it down. If you fail you’ll be given another chance in a couple of weeks.

The Oversee UFO is the fasted alien ship in the game. You’ll want a moderately armed Firestorm, or something equivalent, to take it out. Send the Skyranger to start the mission.

Once your troops arrive you’ll encounter one or more patrols outside the UFO. Inside the UFO, in the central room, you’ll find an Ethereal with a guard of Muton Elites. Once you clear out the enemies you can claim the Ethereal Device as well as a bunch of other alien artifacts.

Temple Ship Assault: This is the final mission in the game and takes place on the Temple Ship off the coast of South America. You’ll need to build the Gollop Chamber and then activate the Ethereal Device. Once it’s turned on no other game progression can take place. This will be the only mission.

The layout of the Temple Ship is linear and consists mainly of multi-level pathways. The enemies are predetermined and will be discovered or spawned as you progress through the ship. There are about 35 aliens in total, beginning with a Sectoid Commander, 2 Sectoids and 2 Cyberdiscs and Drones in the first area.

You’ll need to make your way through 5 separate areas before reaching the bridge. This is where you’ll find the Uber Ethereal, 2 Ethereals and from 2-4 Muton Elites. The Uber Ethereal is your main target so take it out first. Once it’s killed all other enemies will die along with it.

The Volunteer who wore the Psi Armor when the Gallop Chamber was activated must survive this mission. If they die the mission will fail. Upon killing the Uber Ethereal the mission and game will be complete!