A new patch for XCOM 2 is now live! The patch will automatically install when starting the Steam client. If it doesn't install automatically, restart Steam.

The XCOM 2 team continues to work to improve your XCOM 2 experience and have fixed a number of bugs in both the base game and the Alien Hunters DLC. New balance changes have been added including additional bonuses to swords to make your Rangers more effective in combat. Downloading this patch will also install the hooks needed for players to access the new SPARK class and narrative-driven mission in Shen’s Last Gift.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Gameplay – Base Game

• Fixed an issue where units would not have their mission starting abilities and Gremlins would not follow
• Fixed an issue with Wet Work where kills were not being tracked for the correct unit
• Fixed an issue where Burning and Poisoned damage was causing free kills
• Damage caused by Psi abilities will now ignore armor
• Faceoff may now only target units that are not mind-controlled (by the shooter’s team)
• Fixed damage preview for abilities that modify damage based on incoming damage amount
• Fixed an exploit where replacing a PCS would not always remove the value it gave when equipping
• Magnetic Swords are now referred to “Magnetic” rather than “Conventional”
• Fixed an issue where the unit flag would not properly show a unit as concealed when loading a save game
• Fixed a crash that could occur after selecting an AOE ability and then another (disabled) ability
• Fixed an issue where Proximity Mines were not damaging every unit in a group move situation
• Blademaster grants +10 Aim to melee and Hunter’s Instinct grants +15 to melee crit
• [MP] Matches will no longer immediately end for the user when winning during the transition before their turn

Gameplay – Alien Hunters

• Fixes instances of Alien Ruler soft hangs
• Avenger Defense no longer fails if a Ruler is in the evac zone
• Fixed an issue where the Skulljack objective caused MECs to stop appearing in tactical
• Fixed a crash that would occur after the Archon King completes an Icarus Drop
• Alien Hunter weapons have range bonuses/penalties applied
• Fixed an issue where Alien Rulers were missing health after increasing the difficulty during a playthrough
• Fixed an issue where Alien Hunter weapons would be lost after upgrading through GTS
• Central can no longer bleed out on the Nest mission due to it causing a soft-fail state
• Removed Freezing Lash’s minimum range of 3 tiles which prevented units from using the ability when standing next to an enemy
• Berserker Queen’s Faithbreaker ability no long targets robotic units
• Removed “Return to Resistance HQ” button from the Hunter Weapons POI complete popup to prevent players from getting into a state where project times are incorrect

Performance Improvements

• Fixed an issue with Effects being ticked twice a frame
• Optimizations to path solving memory footprint and performance
• Fixed an issue where unnecessary game states were created on the Geoscape

System Support

• Updates to allow Steam Workshop DLC to be enumerated before native script packages are loaded. Will allow mods that override XComGame.upk to work through Steam Workshop

Steam Controller

• Removed button labels in save/load list that are not hooked up to anything

Modding

• New flag bForceReselectAllGroupsForSpawn for use with multi-part mission schedules
• Armor hit rolls have been deprecated as the game treats armor as 100% chance to absorb damage
  • Armor is now handled directly by ApplyWeaponDamage
  • ApplyWeaponDamage now has a bIgnoreArmor flag so that psionic abilities properly ignore armor

• Tactical Quick Launch menu now supports the grenade slot correctly
• Debug command X2ShowFullObject to display a game state object’s data
• Bonus weapon ammo (e.g. Heavy Ordnance and Field Medic) is now handled through a delegate on ability templates: GetBonusWeaponAmmoFn
• X2DownloadableContentInfo has new hooks: 
  • AbilityTagExpandHandler, so new localization tags can be added
  • FinalizeUnitAbilitiesForInit, which allows special manipulation of a unit's ability list before the abilities are created in a tactical match

• Effects now have the ability to be redirected from their initial target
  • EffectShouldRedirect figures out who gets the redirected effect

• New character template flag, bDiesWhenCaptured
• Character templates can now have forced first, last, and nick names
• Character templates can implement the delegate GetPhotographerPawnNameFn so as not to be forced to use soldier pawns for pictures in the strategy game
• Countries can now be hidden from character customization
• Deprecated X2AbilityMultiTarget_SoldierBonusRadius (though it continues to work for now). Base classes X2AbilityMultiTarget_Radius, _Cone, and _Line now support increasing the AOE range based on passive abilities in a generic fashion.
• Effects may add projectiles to a volley conditionally by registering in the EffectsForProjectileVolleys array and implementing the function GetProjectileVolleyTemplate. Effects that are always on should still use the perk system, but this callback allows for game state checks to add or not add the projectile to a volley.
• X2Effect_GenerateCover can now generate cover for mobile units, instead of forcing it to disappear when the unit moves