Xenonauts 2 Guide: Base, Research, and Combat Tips

Xenonauts 2 does not hold your hand. After spending over 20 hours in a campaign only to realize the base layout was wrong and the research order was backwards, the lesson becomes clear fast: this game punishes uninformed decisions hard. Unlike the modern XCOM titles, there is no generous difficulty curve to catch you. The alien invasion escalates whether you are ready or not, and a bad early build order can make mid-game unwinnable.

This guide covers everything you need to survive the opening months: where to place your base, what to build first, which technologies to prioritize, how to build a squad that actually works, and how to keep regional panic from spiraling out of control.

What difficulty should you choose in Xenonauts 2?

Xenonauts 2 offers four difficulty levels: Recruit, Soldier, Veteran, and Commander. There is also an optional Ironman Mode that locks you to a single auto-saving file with no reloads.

• Recruit is the right call if you have never touched an XCOM-style game. The systems are complex enough that learning them without heavy punishment is genuinely useful.
• Soldier is the recommended starting point for players who have played XCOM: Enemy Unknown or XCOM 2 but have not experienced classic X-COM or Xenonauts 1. Be aware that Soldier here is harder than those modern titles.
• Veteran is for players who know classic X-COM mechanics and expect to restart several times before finding their footing.
• Commander is reserved for experienced Xenonauts players who are comfortable with frequent, sometimes unfair-feeling losses.
• Ironman Mode is available on any difficulty and prevents loading earlier saves. Skip it on your first run.

The game also has an Extended option that adds significant length (at least 30 hours) but repeats mission types more frequently. It is the closest experience to classic X-COM pacing, so choose it if you prefer a slower, less urgent campaign.

Choose your difficulty carefully

Best starting base location

Base placement determines how much of the world your radar can cover, which directly affects how many UFOs you intercept and how many missions you can respond to. The best positions cost around $1.5 million, but you can often find nearly equivalent coverage by adjusting slightly on the map.

According to community testing documented in the source guide, strong early positions include:

• East Africa: Covers Europe, Africa, and the Middle East from a single location.
• Western China: Covers the Soviet Union, Asia, and parts of the Middle East.
• Central America: Covers North America, Latin America, and part of the Atlantic.

The logic behind location choice is financial as much as tactical. Regional blocs fund your operation each month, and regions with high panic contribute less or stop paying entirely. Broader radar coverage means more UFO interceptions, more ground missions completed, and lower panic across more regions. Lower panic means steadier income, which funds everything else.

Best base build order in Xenonauts 2

Base construction happens on a 6x6 grid, and some buildings provide adjacency bonuses when placed next to identical structures. Two laboratories next to each other research faster; two workshops next to each other speed up manufacturing. Plan your layout around these bonuses from day one.

The recommended early build order, based on the verified 1.0 release, is:

Hangar > Generator > Radar > Hangar > Generator > Medical Center

The Hangar is the single most important early structure. Everything in Xenonauts 2 flows from shooting down UFOs, and you need hangars to house interceptors. Two interceptors are enough to start, but build more as soon as you can afford them.

The Medical Center becomes urgent once your squad starts taking casualties regularly. It significantly reduces how long soldiers spend recovering and improves survival chances. With around 15 soldiers on your roster, injuries are manageable, but your soldiers will level up more slowly without faster recovery.

Base layout affects adjacency bonuses

How to earn more money in Xenonauts 2

Cash stays tight through most of the early campaign. There are several income streams worth understanding:

Push plot research and complete Cleaner missions. These unlock higher funding tiers and are the primary driver of long-term income growth. Neglecting the main storyline research is one of the most common early mistakes.

Keep scientists and engineers working or generating idle income. When no project is assigned, each scientist generates $350 per hour passively, and each engineer generates $250 per hour. Extra staff on your roster is never truly wasted.

Sell mission loot strategically. After tactical missions, the Base Stores screen lets you sell alien corpses, equipment, and other recoveries. There is a "Sell Junk" button for automatic offloading of unusable items. Two rules here:

• Never sell Alloys or Alenium. These are essential crafting materials later in the game.
• Sell in bulk. Item prices drop each time you sell the same type, potentially falling to around 40% of the original value over repeated transactions. Hoarding a large stack and selling it all at once is more profitable than drip-selling.

Spend Operations Points to raise funds. On the Geoscape map, Operations Points can be converted directly into cash. This is useful in emergencies, but Operations Points also manage panic and recruit Supporters, so spend them deliberately.

Recruit Funding Supporters. Each world region has four Supporters across five categories: Funding, Intelligence, Scientist, Engineer, and Security. Recruiting a Funding Supporter raises your monthly income from that region. Recruiting all Supporters in a region provides a large bonus. Prioritize neutralizing Infiltrators and recruiting Funding Supporters early.

Best research order in Xenonauts 2

Research unlocks every meaningful upgrade in the game. There is no single perfect path since the tree branches, but the early and mid-game priorities are clear.

Early game research priorities

1. Combat Vehicles: Research this first to unlock the MARS combat platform. At $250,000 to build plus upkeep, it is expensive, but it absorbs hits that would kill your veteran soldiers.
2. Plot Research Projects: Push these consistently. They unlock new funding tiers and key story missions that drive the campaign forward.
3. Alien Technology Research: After tactical missions, you gain research options based on recovered equipment. Prioritize anything that upgrades soldier weapons and armor. The jump from ballistic to laser technology is the most impactful early weapon upgrade.
4. Alien Interrogations: Capturing an alien rather than killing it unlocks an interrogation research project for that species. Each completed interrogation raises your Training Rate by 1 and increases damage dealt to all aliens of that species by 10%.

Should you invest in Accelerated Weapons?

The community consensus is to skip Accelerated weapons and invest directly into laser technology. Accelerated weapons are not significantly stronger than standard ballistics, making the research cost hard to justify. Invest in lasers as soon as you can, then drop them once plasma weapons become available.

The one exception: always invest in new snipers. Sniper upgrades pay off immediately given how much open terrain appears in early missions.

Best squad loadout in Xenonauts 2

Your Skyhawk dropship carries up to 8 soldiers, with the MARS unit taking one slot. Fill it every mission, especially early when encounters are most dangerous.

A balanced squad for early-to-mid game:

• x2 Riflemen: Best used as grenadiers and medics until their accuracy improves. Aim for at least 55 Accuracy for reliable mid-range shooting.
• x2 Snipers: Devastating in open terrain. Require at least 65 Accuracy to be effective.
• x2 Assault soldiers: Deal the most damage up close with shotguns. Need enough Time Units and high Reflexes to close distance safely.
• x1 Grenadier: Handles clustered enemies and destroys obstacles.
• x1 MARS unit: Acts as a frontline absorber. Highly recommended once researched.

Every soldier should carry a Medikit and smoke grenades unless their Strength is too low to carry both alongside their weapon. One extra ammunition clip is sufficient for most missions. All Riflemen and Snipers should equip the Tactical Module to boost accuracy.

Soldier stats explained

Unlike XCOM 2, Xenonauts 2 has no rigid class system. Each soldier's stats determine their best role.

Killing an enemy grants 200 Progression Points (PP) distributed across all stats. Reaching 1,000 PP in a stat raises it by 1 point. Veterans become substantially more capable than fresh recruits over time, which is why high base stats matter so much at recruitment.

What stats to prioritize when recruiting

Look for high Bravery, Accuracy, and Strength in new candidates. Any soldier with red stat values in any category is generally not worth hiring. There are no dump stats in Xenonauts 2; every attribute contributes in some scenario. PP requirements increase as stats rise, so soldiers who start higher will reach powerful thresholds faster.

Should you build a MARS unit?

Yes. The MARS (Mobile Armored Robotic System) is one of the strongest assets in the game. It does not accumulate wounds like soldiers do, can be equipped with either a missile turret or a heavy armor-piercing cannon, and absorbs hits that would kill your best veterans.

To build one, research Combat Vehicles first, then manufacture the MARS through the Engineering department. The $250,000 build cost plus ongoing upkeep is significant, but the value it provides on the battlefield justifies the expense early.

How to shoot down UFOs more effectively

Air interception in Xenonauts 2 is a real-time mini-game where you maneuver fighters into firing range while avoiding enemy fire. It is not auto-resolved.

• Build three interceptors early. UFOs frequently require multiple aircraft, and having a third in reserve keeps pressure on even when others are damaged and refueling.
• Trail UFOs over land before engaging. Crashing a UFO over land gives you the option to bomb it for resources or send your squad to recover the site. Both are more rewarding than an ocean crash.
• Use formations. The interception screen offers template formations. These maximize firing coverage and reduce the chance that all your aircraft end up in the same enemy firing arc.
• Upgrade your air fleet through research. The early Angel Interceptors handle light UFOs but struggle against heavier types. Air technology research should run parallel to ground equipment upgrades.

How to manage panic and avoid losing regions

Early in the campaign, the Doomsday Counter tracks global nuclear tension. If it maxes out, the world triggers a nuclear war and the run ends. Later, this transitions to Regional Panic, where individual regions can fall to the alien threat. If two regions hold a Panic rating above 100 for a full month, it is game over.

Keeping panic under control requires consistent effort across several systems:

• Complete tactical missions promptly. Ground combat directly reduces panic in the affected region. Expired crash sites and abduction missions are missed opportunities.
• Spend Operations Points on Reducing Tension when panic spikes somewhere you cannot reach in time.
• Recruit Security Supporters to reduce your daily Doomsday counter accumulation.
• Eliminate Infiltrators immediately. They actively increase the Doomsday counter and compound panic problems fast.
• Build your base to cover multiple continents so you can respond to more missions across more regions.

When should you build a second base?

Only build a second base when you can properly equip it with at least one radar, two hangars, and two interceptors. A base without aircraft provides almost no strategic value. The construction, power, and staffing costs are high enough that an under-equipped second base will cripple your first one.

Timing-wise, the right window is when the Doomsday counter transitions to the Regional Panic mechanic. At that point, a second base in a high-panic region you cannot currently cover pays for itself quickly through the missions and UFO interceptions it enables.

Essential combat tips for beginners

Tactical combat in Xenonauts 2 is slower and more deliberate than modern XCOM. These are the principles that separate survivors from casualties:

• Always use cover. Low cover (crates, fences, low walls) gives a 40% miss chance. Tall cover (full walls, hedges) gives a 100% miss chance. Never end a turn in the open. Note that all cover is destructible, so enemies can shoot through it to remove it.
• Crouch before shooting. Crouching costs 4 TUs and increases your Accuracy by 10% while making your soldier 10% harder to hit.
• Manage TUs deliberately. Soldiers ending a turn with TUs remaining have a better chance of triggering reaction fire against moving enemies. Reflexes governs this.
• Use suppression. Hitting near enemies applies Suppression, which drains their remaining TUs and reduces their starting TUs by 50% on their next turn. LMGs and burst fire are your best tools for this.
• There is friendly fire. Check soldier positions before shooting through tight corridors or throwing grenades.
• Capture enemies when possible. Stunning an alien with smoke grenades and stun batons unlocks interrogation research. Weaken the target first, then apply stun damage exceeding their current health to render them unconscious.
• You can retreat. If a mission is going badly, use the ESC menu to abort. Get all living soldiers back on the Skyhawk first; anyone left behind counts as dead.

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