XCOM 2: War of the Chosen – Instantly Unlock New Hero Units With Advanced Options

Want to get a Templar, Reaper or Skirmisher in your team right at the start of the game? You can do that and lots of other awesome little game-changing options with these XCOM 2: War of the Chosen advanced options. Before starting a new campaign, you can select modifiers that add (or subtract) features from the main game. Some make things easier, some make things way, way harder. They’re all pretty cool and worth checking out. Here’s all the advanced options available at the start.

In XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, the alien invasion gets a whole lot more complex. You’ll have to juggle three deadly alien bosses while improving your standing with three combative resistance factions. The aliens appear randomly and attempt to capture your allies, but the powerful new Resistance Faction hero units provide plenty of extra firepower to defeat these seemingly unstoppable foes. There are new missions, new weapons, and new enemies to complicate every aspect of XCOM 2.

More XCOM 2: War of the Chosen guides on Gameranx:

• XCOM 2: War of the Chosen – 11 Expansion Starter Tips | Beginner’s Guide
• XCOM 2: War of the Chosen – How To Beat The Assassin | Boss Tips & Tricks
• XCOM 2: War of the Chosen – Unlocking the Reaper | Resistance Mission Guide
• XCOM 2: War of the Chosen – How To Unlock The Templars Faction
• XCOM 2: War of the Chosen – New Research, Weapons & Items List
• XCOM 2: War of the Chosen – All New Mission Types Explained
• XCOM 2: War of the Chosen – How To Make Custom In-Game Propaganda

How To Instantly Unlock New Hero Units

Before starting a new game in XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, you’ll be able to change your gameplay experience with new Advanced Options.

From New Game you can select your difficult [Rookie, Veteran, Commander & Legend] or change some of the in-game settings for your randomly generated campaign. Beneath the difficulty options, you’ll find Toggle Advanced Options View.

• Beta Strike:
  • Health of all soldiers and enemies is doubled. Soldiers recover health equal to half of their damage taken at the end of missions. Mission timers are increased by 50%.
• Reaper Ally:
  • Start the game with a Reaper in the squad. Only activates when War of the Chosen introduction is disabled. Can only start with one Faction.
• Skirmisher Ally:
  • Start the game with a Skirmisher in the squad. Only activates when War of the Chosen introduction is disabled. Can only start with one faction.
• Templar Ally:
  • Start the game with a Templar in the squad. Only activates when War of the Chosen introduction is disabled. Can only start with one faction.
• Grim Horizon:
  • Dark Events never expire, greatly increasing both tactical and strategic difficulty as the game progresses.
• Lengthy Scheme:
  • Provides more time to defeat ADVENT, decreasing the strategic difficulty of the game.
• Time Turner:
  • Greatly extends the time to complete mission objectives, decreasing the tactical difficulty of the game.
• Precision Explosives:
  • Grenades are less reliable for dealing a specific amount of damage to all units within their radius, increasing the tactical difficulty of the game.

Many of the advanced options actually make the game easier, with only a handful increasing difficulty. Options like “Precision Explosives” are lifted directly from the Long War mod, adding another layer of unpredictability to the experience.

But, the coolest advanced options let you start the game with a particular faction character already in your squad. You can start with a Skirmisher, Templar or Reaper and begin with their HQ unlocked right at the start of the campaign. That’ll make things much, much easier — but you can only choose one.