Hello, Commander. XCOM: Enemy Within. Expansion out everywhere, prepare to die.

Antimatter

Using new nanomechanical resources known as the Meld, stolen from the alien menace, we have the capability to fight the enemy on a new level. Your soldiers will be giving up their humanity to take on genetic modifications and mechanical enhancements, but will be able to destroy and beat back the extraterrestrial threat.

Meld is a new resource that is found in containers that need to be captured and it will be present in most mission types: Abductions, Crashed UFO and Landed UFO missions. Two Meld canisters will be randomly located on the map, one in an easy to reach spot (near the deployment zone) and one hard spot.
Meld canisters have a self-destruct timer that will destroy the resource and damage any player units nearby if not reached quickly enough; a Meld canister can be destroyed without exploding but loses its high cover status. The self-destruct timers start at the beginning of the match but are not known to the player until a canister is spotted; each canister seems to have its own individual timer (a few turns for an easy canister and more for a hard canister). Meld is collected similar to deactivating power nodes in Bomb missions (free action once a soldier moves next to it) or by clearing the map of aliens before the timers run out.
Meld is made up of nanotech organisms and can be used modify your soldiers to create either MEC Troopers (a new class) or to genetically alter your soldiers' capabilities.
A new research project called Meld Recombination will open up two new base facilities: Genetics Labs and Cybernetics Labs. Both will be cheap to build in terms of cash and will apparently count as Workshops for adjacency bonuses.
The addition of Meld won't significantly change the research/tech tree; instead, Meld related tech and upgrades will largely be unlocked as part of existing research like alien autopsies.

Alien Autopsies will reveal genetic modifications ("Gene Mods" or "G-mods") for your soldiers which can be applied in the Genetics Labs.
Gene Mods can undergo Psi testing and the modifications stack with Psi abilities.
Soldiers with Gene Mods will receive unique versions of the various armor types (featuring sleeveless armor designs and their own armor deco options).
Gene Mods can apply to the following categories: Brain, Eyes, Chest, Skin, Legs, with 2 options available for each (and that can be swapped at a cost).
Brain: Neural Feedback (damages an alien attempting Mind Control but doesn't reduce its chance) or Neural Damping (soldier immune to panic, becomes unconscious if enemy manages to Mind Control it).
Eyes: Hyper Reactive Pupils (grants a +10 Aim bonus after missing a shot) and a mod that gives additional bonuses for height advantage.
Legs: Boosted Muscle Fiber (a soldier can leap to heights normally requiring a ladder, drain pipe or grapple) or Adaptive Bone Marrow (limited health regeneration for wounded soldiers).
Chest: Adrenal Neurosympathy (grants a combat boost to nearby soldiers when killing an enemy) and a mod that adds a second heart that causes a soldier to be critically wounded instead of dying when suffering lethal damage and won't lose Will.
Skin: Bioelectric Skin (hidden enemies, either in the fog of war or cloaked, within a short distance are revealed with a bioelectric outline) or Mimetic Skin (makes your soldiers invisible if they end their turn in high cover and weren't spotted by any enemies during your turn).

With the Cybernetics Lab, MEC Troopers can be created from any soldier class, maintaining their rank but losing all abilities they previously had. MEC Troopers will gain an "Inherited Ability" based on their previous class; Rookies cannot become MEC Troopers. MEC Troopers replace their arms and legs with cybernetic implants and even receive a very monotone voice.
MEC Troopers cannot be genetically modified or undergo Psi testing; a Psionic soldier cannot become a MEC Trooper.
MEC Troopers utilize a Mechanized Exoskeleton Cybersuit (aka MEC Suit) which can be damaged and require repairs. MECs don't use cover and can be armed with a Minigun, Railgun or Particle Cannon.
MEC Suits can be upgrade through three tiers, each with options for different Tactical Subsystems:
The Warden (Mech I): you choose between a Flamethrower which douses flames (6 Damage) over a short arc ignoring cover or a Kinetic Strike Module which is a rocket-assisted punching fist (12 Damage) that knocks enemies back (or into exploding vehicles)! Both cause some collateral damage to the area around the tile(s) targeted. Robotic units will be immune to the Flamethrower.
The Sentinel (Mech II): you choose between a Grenade Launcher which allows you to launch grenades really far or a Restorative Mist which heals all units within a certain range of the MEC.
The Paladin (Mech III): you choose between Proximity Mines which can be fired across the map and aren't triggered by your units and an Electropulse which is a point blank area of effect electric attack, (which does damage and stuns enemy robots), unlike the flamethrower.
MEC Trooper Abilities include: Shock-Absorbent Armor (starting ability); Collateral Damage (allows weapon to be free-aimed at terrain at the cost of high ammo consumption), Damage Control (which reduces the damage taken for one turn), and One for All (allows them to hunker down and act as cover until they move or shoot).

The X-Rays aren't standing still, which is why we have reason to expand our capabilities in response.

The Mechtoid is a Sectoid in a Mech suit. It is a robotic unit armed with twin Plasma Mini-Cannons and can fire twice in a turn if it doesn't move; Mechtoids will tend to split their fire between two different enemies unless they only have one valid target and the Plasma Mini-Cannon damage will scale up on higher difficulties. Mechtoids don't utilize cover but have a solid block of health (20 HP on normal). Sectoids can Mind Merge with a Mechtoid and give it a Psi Shield which grants a health buff (6 HP) and reduces damage against the Mechtoid by half; killing the Sectoid merger only cancels the shield and causes some light damage to the linked Mechtoid instead of killing it. Mechtoids start showing up during the mid-game, about the time regular Sectoids started disappearing in Enemy Unknown.

Mechtoids that are killed will generate two corpses (a Sectoid one and a Mech Core) as well as small amount of Meld; this, along with often being accompanied by regular Sectoids, means Sectoid Corpses are no longer a finite resource. Recovered Mech Cores unlock new Foundry projects that benefit MEC Troopers and S.H.I.V.s.

The Seeker is a flying squid-like robotic unit. Capable of cloaking themselves (for a limited number of turns), the Seekers utilize a brand new AI that focuses on hit and run style attacks. Seekers will appear in pairs and when initially spotted are more likely to run and hide; only to reappear after your squad has engaged other enemy units. Despite being triggered in pairs, Seekers largely act individually (i.e. can strike during different turns) and have a preference for attacking isolated units (like Squadsight Snipers). Seekers will start being encountered early in the game

Strangle: Seekers have a plasma attack but if cloaked can perform a new Strangle attack that allows them to latch on (actually occupying the same tile as its target) and paralyze their prey while the damage mounts each turn; a friendly unit that survives a Strangle attack (whether by dislodging or killing the Seeker) will require a turn to "catch their breath." The Bioelectric Skin gene mod and the Sniper's Battle Scanner will be able to detect stealthed Seekers. The Respirator Implant (see below) and many of the advanced armors confer immunity to Strangling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byi7TA4iaEU


In addition to the new equipment for your soldiers, there have been some changes in your previous inventory and training regimens.

Class Changes and New Technology
Support's Deep Pockets now gives an additional charge to limited use items like Grenades, Arc Throwers, Medikits, etc.
Support's Covering Fire now fires before the enemy uses its weapon.
Assault's Close and Personal perk is now called Up Close and Personal: gives a free shot when within 4 tiles of an enemy.
Heavy's HEAT Ammo damage bonus reduced to +50% against robots.
Sniper's Snap Shot aim penalty reduced from -20 to -10.
Sniper's Squad Sight only gives Critical Damage if Headshot is used.
New grenades:
Needle Grenade has a big blast radius but doesn't destroy cover or affect allies/enemies in cover from the grenade's blast origin; unlocked after researching Chryssalid Autopsy
Stealth Grenade splashes allies with a temporary invisibility paint
Gas Grenade uses synthesized Thin Man poison; robotic units are immune.
Flashbang Grenade disorients enemies (severe Aim and movement penalties); robotic units are immune.
Mimic Beacon: An item which tossed similar to a grenade that emits a signal that tricks aliens into thinking it's human, drawing them towards it and away from any nearby player units; the beacon won't fool robotic or psionic aliens.
Respirator Implant: An item that works similar to a Nano-fiber Vest by adding health, but also provides immunity to the Seeker's Strangle attack. (Chitin Plating has also been improved to provide Strangle immunity.)
Reaper Rounds grant ballistic weapons a bonus to Critical Hit chance but with reduced accuracy.
New Foundry projects:
Tactical Rigging: Available early in the game, but relatively expensive, this upgrade will grant all classes two item slots.
Shaped Armor: adds extra health to all MEC Troopers and S.H.I.V.s.
Advanced Servomotors: will increase mobility for all MEC Troopers and S.H.I.V.s.

Furthermore, your soldiers will earn medals that will encourage them and give their morale a much needed boost, granting them more capabilities.

The following briefing is also important and should be read.

The game intro will receive a new quote, replacing the one from Arthur C. Clarke:
“Those who play with the devil’s toys will be brought by degrees to wield his sword.” -Buckminster Fuller
There will be a new tutorial mission introducing Meld that can be played in addition to or in place of the regular tutorial mission or disabled completely.
The expansion will include the Operation Progeny content (originally planned as a DLC release like Slingshot) which has been tweaked to fit with the expansion's new narrative elements, but can still be enabled/disabled separately like Slingshot.
Enemies that don't utilize cover (Mechtoids, Cyberdiscs, Sectopods) may enter Overwatch when spotted.
S.H.I.V.s can receive a Sentinel Mode upgrade that gives them a Close Combat Specialist-like ability and receive additional bonuses from upgrades that also improve MECs.

New Second Wave options:
Aiming Angles: Flanking system reworked with the closer a unit gets to flanking an enemy, the more its cover bonus declines.
Save Scum: Saving a game will reset the RNG seed for the shots.
Itchy Trigger Tentacle: Non-cover aliens (Mechtoid and Sectopod) have a 50% chance of firing at your soldiers upon being spotted.
Rookie Roulette: After a Soldier receives a Class and their first ability, additional ranks can grant randomized abilities from a pool of the all the Class abilities sets minus any skills that are dependent on a specific weapons (which are still Class locked). So you could have an Assault with Sprinter or a Heavy with Deep Pockets.


Panic rebalanced to make it less likely for soldiers to fire on their squad mates; panic will now include an Aim penalty which will also make those rarer incidents of "friendly fire" less likely to hit.
Critical bonus of stealth attacks reduced from 100 to 30.
There will be a button ("Make item available") in the pre-mission UI that strips all soldiers not currently assigned to the Skyranger team of all equipment.
You can now personalize your soldier's voice using the available audio packs for the current language localizations (French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and Polish).
Memorial Wall will now feature "killed by" information with each name.
There's an option to disable Dr. Vahlen's and Dr. Shen's tutorial voice overs.
Normal difficulty may actually be slightly easier to beat due to the new tech but Classic and Impossible difficulties will be getting harder; in addition to the challenge of new enemies, research times and experience required for soldiers to rank up will be slightly increased.
Sectopods may be receiving buffs to increase their toughness when compared to the Mechtoid.
There will be new helmets, new armor decos for all armor types, and even new tint colors for customizing your soldiers.
MEC Suits will have armor deco options that paint different patterns like tiger stripes, flames and spirals.

There will be a number of bug fixes (including the "teleport bug" and a variety of cover related bugs).

There will be 47 new maps. New map types will include a bank, a new truck stop, a roadhouse, an ice cream shop, a coffee shop, a dam, and several new crashed UFO maps (urban, farm, and possibly even snow).
Some of the original Enemy Unknown maps have been "tweaked", some to address exploding cars issues and to add Meld containers; old and new maps will be mixed together but the game is set so that you'll see more of the new maps during a gameplay (for initial playthroughs but evening out over time).
Ananda Gupta confirmed there will be new mission types (to be revealed later).

Multiplayer:

You can now edit your squad and save several loadouts in offline mode.
Multiplayer unit costs been rebalanced: Rookies and other basic units have received point reductions as have AoE weapons like grenades and rockets.
Mechtoid and Seeker added.
8 more maps for Multiplayer.

Besides the alien threat, we have concerns that there is a new threat, one closer to home than we could have possibly suspec-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4KdSli869U

Achievements:

Anger Management
Proc Combat Rush on the entire squad (min. 4)

G’day
Kill an elite enemy Sniper with one of your own snipers in single player

Remington… Max Remington
Have your special-duty soldier kill three enemies in the same mission

Rise of the Machines
Field a squad consisting entirely of augmented soldiers and SHIVs (min. 4) and win the mission

Regenerate This
Kill an elite enemy Medic with explosive damage in single player

Mutatis Mutandis
Field a squad where all members have at least two modifications (min. 4) and win the mission

Mental Minefield
Kill an enemy as it is psionically attacking you in single player

Solid Prospect
Complete Deluge

Guardian of Earth
Designate a highly decorated soldier as the Volunteer

All Hands on Deck
Get at least 4 kills with XCOM Base Security personnel

Elite Defense
Beat a new special mission without losing any assets

Ours are the Furies
Complete Furies

Pain in the Neck
Cause an enemy to suicide

By Our Powers Combined
Field a squad with 4 augmented soldiers, each with a different base ability and win the mission

Tingling Sensation
Kill an unseen enemy detected by a specially modified soldier in single player

Taking A Load Off
Stop a squad member from suffocating in single player

Apotheosis Denied
Deal with the newest global threat

They Shall Not Pass
Eliminate all alien waves

Steel Martyr
Deploy three tactical subsystems on a single soldier in single player

Enemy Within
Get a Soldier to have 5 modifications in single player

Who Needs Limbs?
Augment a soldier in single player

A Little Bit Alien
Modify a soldier in single player

Zom-B-Gone
Eradicate the infestation

An Army Of Four
Beat the game without buying a Squad Size upgrade (Classic+ difficulty)

Where in the World
Make certain of the new threat's location

Mind the Step
Jump two stories in one move in single player

Someone Your Own Size
Kill a Muton Berserker in melee combat in single player

Shieldbuster
Eliminate an enemy's shield and kill it on the same turn in single player

The Meld Squad
Field a fully enhanced squad and win the mission

Helpful Links:
http://xcom.wikia.com/wiki/XCOM_Wiki
http://www.ufopaedia.org/?title=Enemy_Unknown_(EU2012)
http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/quick-look-ex-xcom-enemy-within/2300-8002/

Enemy Within is coming out November 12th 2013, 30 bucks on PC and 40 bucks on console. The console version comes with the full game and the Elite Soldier Pack, Operation Slingshot, and the Second Wave DLCs fully integrated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fd9CmpLZVMI

SIGNAL LOST

Gatsby

I will never get that Army of Four achievement

UnbreakableVow

1) When does this come out?

2) Disc-only, or DLC?

3) How much?

Antimatter

if you watched the videos you'd see it's coming out on November 12th, 2013.

Disc only for console, DLC for PC.

40 bucks for console, 30 bucks for PC.

Console version comes with the base game, the Elite Soldier pack, and Operation Slingshot.

UnbreakableVow

Ain't got time for videos

I may grab this for 360

Fugitive

BWOOP

Antimatter wrote: »

All Hands on Deck
Get at least 4 kills with XCOM Base Security personnel

Wots all this then

Antimatter

spoilers, fugi, spoilers

Duke 2.0

Floaters replacing Thin Men for Asshole #1 position for suicidal tendencies

Game Crashes replacing Losing A Team Squad for run-ending frustration

Shen

Panic rebalanced to make it less likely for soldiers to fire on their squad mates; panic will now include an Aim penalty which will also make those rarer incidents of "friendly fire" less likely to hit.
Aiming Angles: Flanking system reworked with the closer a unit gets to flanking an enemy, the more its cover bonus declines.

Love these. So many new toys, I hope they give you enough time to actually get to play with all of them.

Antimatter

the game is in fact longer thanks to the additions

i think another hour or two added?

TheStig

Duke 2.0 wrote: »

Floaters replacing Thin Men for Asshole #1 position for suicidal tendencies

Game Crashes replacing Losing A Team Squad for run-ending frustration

I fucking hate floaters.

"Guess we will all just fly straight up for height advantage with no regard to our own safety but lol, we just killed 2 of your guys in full cover so whatever."

Duke 2.0

I don't think flying gives height advantage? Unless it applies for floaters but not archangel armor I guess fuck them even more.

I refer more to jumping in the middle of your squad to crit one dude before being reduced to paste.

TheStig

Pretty sure it does.

Duke 2.0

Huh. Wiki says flight does grant height bonus, but I distinctly remember the game telling me it doesn't

Inquisitor

I believe the game is a liar in this case.

Jars

aw damn it only european voices? I wanted african ones

Sterica

Still haven't scratched Enemy Unknown.

I blame it on naming my troops after friends and family. Can't finish a mission when my brother is dead, geez.

gtrmp

Panic granting an Aim penalty is actually going to make Berserkers a lot more dangerous. On my Classic run probably half the Berserkers I killed followed the pattern of "squaddie shoots Berserker, Berserker intimidates squaddie, squaddie panics and fatally shoots Berserker".

DarkPrimus

My Berserker tactic is usually "have squaddies shoot Berserker to make it come closer so everyone has an easier time of hitting it".

gtrmp

double post

Doobh

Doing a run through Classic just to see if I can do it twice

this time, without any second wave options

Highlights: @Darth Waiter is my star assault, going be the nickname 'Oh Sith'
@Sassori is a heavy from South Korea, and she started with the nickname 'Doomsday,' but I opted for 'Devil Spawn' instead

Caulk Bite 6

Fugitive wrote: »

BWOOP

Antimatter wrote: »

All Hands on Deck
Get at least 4 kills with XCOM Base Security personnel

Wots all this then

My money's on corrupted agents from lost countries infiltrating your base and trying to jack your shit.

Or, you know, straight up Base Invasions.

Gatsby

Oh god I just re-read the new second wave options and somehow I missed the save scum one

fuck

fuck

Antimatter

Caulk Bite 6 wrote: »

Fugitive wrote: »

BWOOP

Antimatter wrote: »

All Hands on Deck
Get at least 4 kills with XCOM Base Security personnel

Wots all this then

My money's on corrupted agents from lost countries infiltrating your base and trying to jack your shit.

Or, you know, straight up Base Invasions.

look at the icons for the achievements on the xcom wiki

at least a couple feature humans with distorted faces

presumably alien altered agents

Doobh

did they mention if I could rename SHIVs for EW

because it feels wrong making @Antimatter a human soldier

Antimatter

Dubh wrote: »

did they mention if I could rename SHIVs for EW

because it feels wrong making @Antimatter a human soldier

no news. it'd be nice, but no news.

Doobh

well, I'll least be able to make you part robbit

Gatsby

I would love to see a SHIV be integrated into a MEC

Doobh

What if a MEC could combine with a SHIV

Antimatter

Dubh wrote: »

What if a MEC could combine with a SHIV

MECha SHIVa

Doobh

I was going to make a gurren lagann reference

but you made a better joke

A rating for the month, commander

Duke 2.0

I know the guns scale differently for male and female troops due to how cartoonishly huge they get and the physique of troops in XCom, but it looks like different classes scale the guns differently. The same plasma rifle on an assault looks larger than the one on a support.

Doobh

whoa, really?

I have to take a closer look because that would be fantastic

Darth Waiter

Dubh wrote: »

Highlights: Darth Waiter is my star assault, going be the nickname 'Oh Sith'

I love this.

Sassori is a heavy from South Korea, and she started with the nickname 'Doomsday,' but I opted for 'Devil Spawn' instead

I love this even more.

Tactical Rigging: Available early in the game, but relatively expensive, this upgrade will grant all classes two item slots.

Well, hello.

Solar

Man X-Com is the fucking best

Duke 2.0

Crashed UFO mission kills off two of my all-star dudes due to aliens taking terrible cover just to piss me off, abductor ship lands and kills off my B-team except the one high-ranking dude supervising, then this abduction hits two days later.

New shipment of troops arrive in two days and SHIV project finishes in five.

Tube

I've never really used SHIVS, but I've heard that there are a lot of rush strategies for them. Are they pretty good?

Doobh

Tube wrote: »

I've never really used SHIVS, but I've heard that there are a lot of rush strategies for them. Are they pretty good?

I'm gonna find out once I slap my sats down in Asia

you've also just volunteered to be one of my soldiers

If I could change Zhang's name, I'd probably use his sexy face for you

Doobh

Oh! And my new uniform requirement for psionic soldiers?

BALD TOWN

TheStig

I'd think all that psionic activity would cause them to have Guile hair.

Doobh

guile hair is reserved for soldiers that have demonstrated exceptional badassery