14 DAY TRIAL // The hulking, hitpoint loaded, flamethrower wilding MECs are clearly the stars of the XCOM: Enemy Within expansion, the kind of unit that can change the course of a battle with one well-placed punch or grenade attack.
I have more snipers than I need on my roster so I have never felt like I missed a capable member of my squad while doing the cyber-upgrades.
But gene mods, which also use MELD in order to enhance one particular aspect of a soldier’s performance, are different because I always want to award them to the best characters I have and that means putting them out of commission for a few excruciating days.
Once they are implemented, gene-based enhancements do not have as much direct impact as a fully upgraded MEC prowling the battlefield, but they act more like a force multiplier, enhancing the overall performance of the entire team.
My main Assault unit now has more powerful legs and hands, which allow him to parkour his way to interesting angles from which to surprise enemy soldiers.
I only have one solid Support build so I have made sure to add a second heart to him so that there’s no chance to lose him in battle, and a special skin upgrade that allows him to regenerate a bit of health if he is hit.
My main Sniper already likes to find a nice vantage point and then use squad sight and the height advantage to take out the most powerful enemies, so I enhanced him to feel even more at home high up and get an advantage in aim if he ever misses.
All the changes might seem small on their own and I often though the MELD price for them was too high, but once they were all implemented, my main squad was both more lethal and tougher when faced with high-level enemies like Ethereals and enemy robots.