XCOM 2: Bonding Soldiers in War of the Chosen - YouTube

Hi, this is TapCat and today we're going to talk about bonding between soldiers in XCOM

2: War of the Chosen.

We finally appear to have details on all of the benefits of this new mechanism.

If you'll give me the next 7 minutes, I'll give you a full breakdown.

The potential for bonding is locked in at the time you recruit each soldier.

They'll be randomly assigned a compatibility score with every other soldier ranging from

low to very high.

Sending soldiers on missions together will give them a chance to develop a relationship.

And that applies to both the traditional tactical combat missions and the new covert actions.

At the end of a mission, their relationship may get to the point that it rises to a level

one bond.

We'll see a short scene of the two of them doing something like having a beer together

and Bradford will let us know that the two can form a bond.

It's worth pointing out that soldiers don't HAVE to have high compatibility for this to

happen.

There are events called "watershed moments" that can bond 2 soldiers that don't particularly

care for each other.

For example, if one is knocked unconscious and the other carries him to the extraction

point that has a way of cutting through old grudges.

The first level bond is easy enough, we'll just confirm that we want to do it and then

choose whether or not to celebrate with a lovely commemorative photo.

Of course, we can continue pairing the two friends on missions in hopes of forming a

level 2 bond or even shooting for the max at level 3.

Taking it to those higher levels will mean that they need to spend a little time in the

new training center facility, but you'll get new abilities that will make it worth your

while.

Ahhh, what's that you say?

New abilities?

That's right, each level brings their own perks so let's go through them.

At level one, either bondmate can grant the other an additional action.

So if one has moved and fired, the other can use "Teamwork" and he can fire again, reload,

or anything else his little heart desires.

I had thought that using Teamwork itself was a free action but after watching 2 different

streams where it was used, it became clear that it's not.

The soldier granting the extra action is giving up one of his own and transferring it to his

friend.

And this can only be used one time per mission.

Not once by each of the two bondmates, once total.

A second level bond grants 3 abilities.

First is Stand by Me.

End a move adjacent to your bondmate and that soldier will be automatically cleansed of

ANY negative mental effects.

This could come in handy in the early game when Sectoids run rampant with mind control

and we know the Chosen will be dazing our squad every chance they get so that might

also be a good use for it.

Overall, though, I'm not sure soldiers are plagued by these effects often enough that

I'm all that worried about it and even then this will only be helpful if the bondmate

is near enough to move next to his friend and then you're either clustering together

which can be a very bad tactical move or using your next action to move. In which case you've

burned a soldiers entire turn.

I'm not saying this will never be useful, but don't fall in love with this until you

have a chance to see it in action.

Another second level bonding perk is Spotter and I'm quite a bit more optimistic about

this one.

Soldiers are given an aim bonus when their bondmate has attacked or been attacked by

the soldier's target.

Okay, let's just throw out the part about getting fired upon because we can't control

when or if that will happen anyway.

But it's extremely common that enemies will only be killed after multiple shots.

So being able to use first one bondmate and then the other to attack and get a bonus for

something you would have done already is a clear plus.

And if we can get this early enough, it could be a big help with the potato aim we all know

and *ahem* love about low level soldiers.

One final note on Spotter, there's an additional aim bonus if the two soldiers are standing

adjacent to each other when the shot is fired.

Now, I'm not going to pretend I've never had two soldiers standing side by side, but this

really is a dangerous tactic if done regularly.

You're giving your enemies a perfect target, for grenades and poison spits along with any

other area of effect grief they may throw your way.

So if there's a reason you need to huddle up then by all means group two bondmates side

by side, but my advice is don't overdo it or the day will come when you'll be a sad

panda.

And the third ability is the one that just might have the biggest impact on our campaigns.

Covert Operators will cut the completion time of a Covert Action by one day when the bondmates

are both on the mission.

We'll cover Covert Actions in a future video but it appears that we'll be wanting, and

needing to run Covert Actions constantly and the cumulative impact of reducing their length

by a full day each time could give us a big leg up in building influence with the factions,

slowing down the Chosen, and more.

And finally we come to level 3.

Interestingly, we have what amounts to a repeat of level one as our first ability.

Advanced Teamwork is literally a second charge of Teamwork.

One bonded soldier can give up one of his actions so that his friend can take another.

Instead of getting one shared use for the mission, you'll now get two.

One final note on teamwork.

If the plan is to use that extra action after an attack, then only use teamwork AFTER you

do attack.

To give two specific examples, if your grenadier moves, attacks, and then is given a teamwork

boost from his bondmate he could attack again or do whatever else you choose.

But if you move him, then give the teamwork boost, and THEN fire, his turn will end.

Having that extra action won't stop his turn from ending if you give it to him too early.

The other level 3 ability is Dual Strike.

Simply put, this is a combined standard shot attack by the soldier and his bondmate.

Either one can invoke the ability, and when he fires, the other will as well.

The key here is that the bondmate won't have used an action point to take that shot and

can still take their turn as normal.

I couldn't find confirmation of this, but I strongly suspect that it will one use per

mission.

Finally, I know some fans want to imagine the bonds going... well, a bit deeper than

simple camaraderie and that's not going to be included in the game.

But there's nothing to stop you from filling in the blanks about what happens off-screen

at the base in whatever way you see fit.

Like the old saying goes, what happens aboard the Avenger stays on the Avenger.

Or... something.

That's my take on Bonding but feel free to share your own in the comments.

Are you looking forward to keeping bondmates snuggled together tighter than a newlywed

couple sharing a sleeping bag throughout every mission?

Already working on your romantic storylines between the lonely specialist and the ranger

who's too consumed with the job to notice him or her?

Let us know!

If you found this video interesting, then please give it a like to help other people

find it.

Especially for a channel my size, it does help.

And if you're not already subscribed to the channel, you might want to do that as I will

continue to cover War of the Chosen through it's release on August 29th and beyond.

That's all for now, thanks for watching.

I hope we see you next time.