XCOM 2, upon its initial release, was met with high praise and was regarded as a step up from its predecessor, a successful reboot of a long-dormant franchise. Not content to just release a good sequel, Firaxis stepped up to the plate and hit another home run with the massive War of the Chosen expansion, which has been regarded as, essentially, XCOM 2.5. They also released a spinoff, XCOM: Chimera Squad, last year.
The base XCOM games are a blast, full of deep tactical gameplay and a decent amount of customization. Gamers have expanded even further on the game through mods over the years. Some are basic UI tweaks or simple gameplay adjustments; others are major overhauls that could be considered spin-offs all on their own. Here is a collection of some of the most essential mods to make any further War of the Chosen playthroughs feel fresh and new.
Updated August 15, 2021, by Matthew Mckeown: Firaxis’s classic turn-based strategy game has been given a new life with all the various unique and interesting mods the community has created for it over the years. With the collaboration of more popular modders becoming more frequent lately, larger and bolder projects have been released with some absolutely solid content making them arguably the best Xcom2 mods to have come out to date. Here are a few more that have recently been released and are proving popular for players.
15 Evac All
Who doesn't like clicking twice, six to eight times to finish an already long, grueling mission? Most people! In particular, modder tracktwo must have really hated all that extra clicking at the end of missions, because they are the author of the Evac All mod.
A rather simple UI change, all this mod does is add an “evac all” option on the normal taskbar at the bottom of the screen when in the evac zone. Maybe not a game-changer exactly, but this is the kind of quality of life update that all large games could use. Truly, anything that reduces what would be 12 clicks with a full squad down to one is fantastic. It almost makes folks feel bad for XCOM 2 players on PS5 and their insane load times. No speed adjustments for them, the poor souls.
14 Robojumper's Squad Select
Managing skills and load-outs of even one player character can be a hassle in some RPGs. Now, imagine a game where players control, level up, and customize dozens of different characters over the course of a 40+-hour campaign. What a headache! Luckily for all War of the Chosen players out there, Robojumper made squad management much less of a headache with his Squad Select overhaul.
This mod makes swapping out squadmates the matter of two clicks instead of several, making weapon swapping almost instantaneous, and even allows brave Commanders to send out more than six soldiers at once! Stats, health, willpower, and even skill information are all readily available without sifting through menu after menu after menu. Thank you, Robojumper.
13 A Better XCOM Suite
Some gamers are never content to rest on their laurels. User DerBK loves XCOM 2 — one of the best western RPGs of all time — so much that he expanded his popular A Better Everything suite over to War of the Chosen. His various A Better Everything mods can change ADVENT behavior, the barracks XCOM uses to upgrade its soldiers, the missions players navigate, and the powerful Chosen bosses themselves.
Not meant to make War of the Chosen “harder,” per se, but the enemy AI changes just tend to make missions more dynamic, allowing long-time players to notice some significant changes that can truly make a playthrough feel new again. Just be sure to add the multiple mods properly, as some can be standalone, but some have dependencies that are required to work properly.
12 Musashi RPG Overhaul Suite
Musashi is probably the most prolific XCOM modder around. The most significant mod he has ever made would have to be the RPG Overhaul mod suite. It is a hefty, huge change in the game, altering almost every aspect at least a little bit. It could be an amazing squad-based strategy game all on its own.
Soldiers all start as the same class, now able to choose from 14 base specializations and 98 abilities total. Players truly get to build their own classes this way. Musashi’s recommended list of plugin mods can add everything from specific class loadouts — like a Jedi class with force abilities — to weapons like...lightsabers for the Jedi. RPGO works well on its own, but to get the fullest experience possible, be ready to download a lot of mods and weed out conflicts.
11 Stenchfury Modular Helmets/Armors
Creating badass alien destroyers is a major part of the fun of the X-COM series. The customization option present in the vanilla version of the game is nice, but it lacks a lot of depth — even with the free DLC they released a while ago — leading to a lot of similar-looking grunts. User Stenchfury, though, really kicks the customization up a notch with his modular helmets and armor.
The helmets in particular allow players to use any part of any headpiece and mash them all together to create truly individual looks. The combinations are endless. Some can be silly, some can be fierce. It’s all up to the player and their boundless imagination.
10 Augmentations
In the heat of war, especially war against terrifyingly advanced alien overlords who have already taken over the world, injuries will happen. In the base game, soldiers could sleep them off. Not with the Augmentations mod, which adds another layer of depth to soldier upkeep. This mod makes it so that grave wounds cannot be healed without cybernetic augmentations.
After proper research and construction, the augmented body parts will be applied to the wounded soldier. Their appearance will change, and you best believe extra benefits may come from having a metal torso — like a regenerating shield, for instance. It’s a fun mod that not only fits with the aesthetic and mood of the game but adds an interesting way to boost the viability and skill set of soldiers.
9 Lost Autofire
With the War of the Chosen add-on came the inclusion of XCOM’s version of zombies. The Lost, as they are called here, are pathetic little nothings, easily dispatched in high numbers. Players consider them more of a nuisance than a threat, due to the repeated need to confirm an attack.
A soldier with a fully loaded assault rifle could potentially attack eight times in one turn, and players would have to manually activate every attack. Thankfully, Musashi thought of all the suffering gamers out there and made this simple UI change that adds a Lost Autofire option, permanently, to the action bar. Sit back and relax as hordes of Lost are cleared out with two simple clicks.
8 Tactical Armory UI
Lots of turn-based games feature loads of weapons. A new one, RAM Pressure, features over 100 different weapons to fight aliens with. After a few add-ons or other mods, managing new weapons in the XCOM loadout screens got to be maddening at a certain point, particularly if using Musashi’s RPG Overhaul. So, the man himself took to the keyboard once again to bring players the Tactical Armory UI mod.
This mod makes lists larger, easier to read, and much easier to sort through. He even included filters for specific weapon types. Having trouble finding a custom sniper rifle with attachments? Sort the list to snipers. It’s a practical addition for even vanilla playthroughs to add style to the soldier loadout menu.
7 Still Stop Wasting My Time
XCOM 2 is an almost infinitely replayable game, especially with mods. However, some things in the game proper just suck up too much time. Action cutscenes — a plague on some otherwise good games — have been viewed countless times. Scanning resource caches in the Avenger takes forever. Some battle animations take up half of any encounter. Why is there a 30-second animation every time a grenade is thrown?
Thankfully, Musashi fixed this for replayers with the Still Stop Wasting My Time Mod — updated for the War of the Chosen mod, hence the "Still" — which speeds up all the various animations that slow down the flow of gameplay. Never again will players suffer through the tedious 80-minute holo targeting animation. A nice bonus is that this mod seems to be almost universal, with no major conflicts.
6 Narrative Control
Oh, Central Officer Bradford. Sincerely, thank you so much for your service to this planet. But, for the love of all that is holy and good in this world, please stop talking. Players who have gone back in for another round or 50 of XCOM 2 have gotten very familiar with Bradford’s constantly repeated reminders.
Thankfully, user KongMD, also apparently fed up with the incessant interruptions, made the Narrative Control mod to silence the beloved war hero. Navigating the Avenger’s many rooms and menus will now be a quieter experience as all narrative moments are muted. KongMD also included instructions for further narrative exclusions — such as Avatar Project progress reports — but it requires some light code modification. It’s worth it, though. Players may miss out on some info referenced in Chimera Squad, but it is a small price to pay.
5 More Base Utility Slots
Perhaps one of the handiest War of The Chosen mods you can download, the More Base Utility Slots by Astral Descend. This add-on lets your squad bring in more items to a fight and it can be a massive help at times.
Often you can run out of grenades and medkits at the absolute worst moments, but with this installed, you can bring in an extra item. So you can bring double grenades, an extra medkit, and a scope or kit everyone out with some extra armor courtesy of the Nano Vests. An item that nobody ever uses in the base game as they take up the single slot you get, so why waste it right?
4 Civilians Revamped
Despite its updated style, there’s still quite the lifeless disconnect in the base game when it comes to the civilians as they often sit there mindlessly watching the destruction around them. Or in the case of reprisal missions, just stand there taking hits from Advent soldiers that are mercilessly gunning down their friends and family.
The Civilians Revamped mod by the combined efforts of Mr. Nice and MrShadowCX fixes this however by having civvies react in a normal human way to all the chaos. So now they’ll run, hide, and generally act more human, adding more immersion to the game which makes levels feel more alive, vibrant, and generally lived in.
3 The Hive
Arguably this is by far one of the hardest and best Xcom 2 mods you can download. The Hive, which was created by a team of 11 popular modders is an unforgiving but brutally fun addon that can cause complete anarchy at times, especially on some of the higher difficulty missions.
What this mod does is add a whole new Chryssalid faction to the game. Led by a gigantic Queen that is no pushover, this faction plays by its own rules, appears when it likes, has a solid roster of brutal monsters, and attacks Advent and Xcom soldiers alike. It’s a fantastic addition for those looking for more variety and depth to the game, so if you want an extra challenge download this or its expansion as both are great Xcom 2 mods.
2 World War L
The Lost at the best of times feel more like a nuisance than a real threat, but with World War L you can give them more of a fighting chance. One of the best Xcom 2 WotC mods created for the Lost faction, it gives them substantially more units, skins, and animations.
The end result is a massive zombie horde that’s filled with all sorts of monsters and people taken from all walks of life. So instead of those classic naked husks, you’ll get to see policemen, clowns, football players, or gigantic towering undead striding across the battlefield, and a myriad of other new monsters.
1 Bio Troops
Whilst the basic Advent infantry you’ll face in the base game offer quite the challenge, they can become stale and a bit of a pushover in the later stages of the game when your squad power level starts to snowball.
The Bio Troops mod counters this perfectly with another of perhaps the best Xcom 2 mods you will get to try as it adds more diverse Advent troopers to mow down. These green-clad lads use all sorts of nasty biotech and buffs that can devastate the unprepared. It also scales their difficulty up as you progress providing more of a challenge for even the most seasoned of Xcom Commanders.