Aim (XCOM: Enemy Unknown)

Not to be confused with the XCOM 2 Sharpshooter class ability.

Aim is a unit attribute and a gameplay mechanic in XCOM: Enemy Unknown, XCOM: Enemy Within, XCOM 2, and XCOM: Chimera Squad. This page focuses primarily on the mechanics of aim in XCOM: Enemy Unknown and XCOM: Enemy Within.

Overview

Aim is a measurement of a unit's accuracy when firing a weapon, and is directly related to one's chance of successfully hitting a target. It does not affect melee attacks, area of effect weapons (such as grenades and rocket launchers), or offensive abilities. Each point of Aim is equivalent to 1% accuracy.

Chance to Hit

A unit's chance to hit is:

Shooter's Aim - Target's Defense + Weapon Range Modifier

The game mechanic adds the shooter's innate Aim attribute to any applicable Aim modifiers (abilities, items, etc.), subtracts the target's Defense attribute and modifiers, then adds or subtracts a weapon range modifier (if applicable), to determine the chance to hit.

For example, an enemy with 75 Aim has a base 75% chance to hit a target (without taking any modifiers into account). A soldier in partial cover is granted 20 Defense, giving the shot a 55% chance to hit.

When aiming a shot, the player can select "More Info" to see a list of modifiers that are currently being applied.

Units

XCOM

XCOM Rookies have an initial Aim attribute of 65. All soldiers, including MEC Troopers, are subject to predefined attribute increases based on their class, which are gained with each increase in rank.

XCOM Soldier Aim
		Squaddie	Corporal	Sergeant	Lieutenant	Captain	Major	Colonel
Assault	Increase	+5	+3	+3	+3	+3	+3	+4
	Total	70	73	76	79	82	85	89
Heavy	Increase	+2	+1	+1	+1	+1	+2	+2
	Total	67	68	69	70	71	73	75
MEC	Increase	+0	+1	+1	+1	+2	+2	+3
	Total *	65	66	67	68	70	72	75
Sniper	Increase	+10	+3	+3	+3	+4	+7	+10
	Total	75	78	81	84	88	95	105
Support	Increase	+5	+3	+3	+3	+3	+3	+5
	Total	70	73	76	79	82	85	90

* Attributes carry over during class conversion; actual Aim varies with the soldier's class and rank prior to augmentation.

Notes:

• All three types of heavy weapon platforms (S.H.I.V.s) have an Aim attribute that is determined by the type of armament used: 70 Aim with the default Minigun, 85 Aim with a Laser Cannon, and 95 Aim with a Plasma Cannon.
• Second Wave options can be enabled to randomize soldiers' Aim. Not Created Equally impacts initial Aim, Will, and Movement attributes. Hidden Potential randomizes Aim and HP increases when gaining a rank.

Alien

An alien's Aim is determined by their species and the game difficulty:

Alien Aim
Species	Aim	Species	Aim
Berserker	60 · 60 · 60 · 60	Muton Elite	80 · 80 · 90 · 100
Chryssalid	0 · 0 · 0 · 0	Outsider	70 · 70 · 80 · 90
Cyberdisc	70 · 70 · 80 · 80	Sectoid	65 · 65 · 65 · 75
Drone	60 · 60 · 70 · 70	Sectoid Commander	85 · 85 · 95 · 95
Ethereal	100 · 100 · 110 · 110	Sectopod	80 · 80 · 90 · 90
Floater	50 · 50 · 60 · 60	Seeker EW	65 · 65 · 65 · 65
Heavy Floater	70 · 70 · 80 · 80	Thin Man	65 · 65 · 75 · 75
Mechtoid EW	60 · 70 · 80 · 80	Uber Ethereal	120 · 120 · 130 · 130
Muton	70 · 70 · 80 · 80	Zombie	0 · 0 · 0 · 0
Easy · Normal · Classic · ImpossibleSource: DefaultGameCore.ini, XCOM: Enemy Within

Notes:

• Berserkers have an Aim of 60 at all difficulty settings in the game's DefaultGameCore.ini file. This differs from other melee-only aliens (Chryssalid, Zombie), which have an Aim of 0.

EXALT

An EXALT soldier's Aim is determined by their class and the game difficulty:

EXALT Aim
Class	Aim	Class	Aim
EXALT Heavy	50 · 50 · 60 · 65	EXALT Elite Heavy	55 · 55 · 65 · 70
EXALT Medic	45 · 45 · 55 · 60	EXALT Elite Medic	55 · 55 · 65 · 70
EXALT Operative	50 · 50 · 60 · 65	EXALT Elite Operative	60 · 60 · 70 · 75
EXALT Sniper	60 · 60 · 70 · 70	EXALT Elite Sniper	70 · 70 · 80 · 85
Easy · Normal · Classic · ImpossibleSource: DefaultGameCore.ini, XCOM: Enemy Within

Bonuses and Perks

There are a substantial number of methods, including the use class abilities and equipment, to modify a unit's Aim.

Terrain

Being in cover confers a Defense bonus to counter the shooter's Aim. Flanking or catching a unit out of cover grants a +50 Critical Chance bonus (+100 with the Absolutely Critical Second Wave option), but does not affect Aim or Defense.

When a unit fires a weapon from a higher elevation than the target, it is bestowed a +20 Aim bonus (visible in the shot information interface as Elevated Ground).

Basic Abilities and Traits

Ability / Trait	Description
Evasion	Enemies targeting this unit when it is airborne suffer a -20 Aim penalty. XCOM: soldiers equipped with Archangel Armor Enemies: Cyberdisc, Drone, Floater, Heavy Floater, Seeker
Overwatch	Reaction shots on Overwatch suffer a small Aim penalty. XCOM: All units Enemies: All EXALT units, Cyberdisc, Floater, Heavy Floater, Mechtoid, Muton, Muton Elite, Outsider, Sectoid, Sectoid Commander, Sectopod, Thin Man

Class Abilities

Class	Ability	Description
Assault	Flush	Fires a shot with a +30 Aim bonus that causes enemies to run out of cover, but only inflicts 50% damage.
	Rapid Fire	Fires two shots against a single target in quick succession, each with a -15 Aim penalty.
Heavy	Holo-Targeting	Shooting at or suppressing enemies also confers +10 Aim to any allies' attacks on those enemies.
	Suppression	Fire a barrage that pins down a target, granting reaction fire against it and imposing a -30 Aim penalty.
MEC	Advanced Fire Control	Shots from Overwatch no longer suffer any Aim penalty.
	Body Shield	The nearest visible enemy suffers -20 Aim and cannot critically hit this unit. (Heavy-based MEC Troopers)
	Platform Stability	Any shots taken without moving have +10 Aim and +10% critical chance. (Sniper-based MEC Troopers)
Psionic	Mindfray	Inflicts -25 Aim, -25 Will, and a Movement penalty for two turns.
Sniper	Damn Good Ground	Confers +10 Aim and +10 Defense against enemies at lower elevation, in addition to the usual elevation bonuses.
	Disabling Shot	Fires a shot that causes the target's primary weapon to malfunction for one turn. Cannot inflict a critical hit and has a -10 Aim penalty.
	Executioner	Confers +10 Aim against targets with less than 50% health.
	Opportunist	Eliminates the Aim penalty on Overwatch, and allows reaction shots to cause critical hits.
	Snap Shot	Removes the sniper rifle's restriction on firing and Overwatch after moving. Shots suffer a -20 Aim penalty (-10 in EW).
Support	Combat Drugs	Adds stimulants that grant +20 Aim, +20 Will and +10 Critical Chance bonuses to all units in a Smoke Grenade's cloud.
	Rifle Suppression	Fires a barrage that pins down a target, granting reaction fire against it and imposing a -30 Aim penalty.

Enemy Abilities

Ability	Description
Blood Call	Grants the initiating Muton, and all nearby Mutons (including Berserkers and Muton Elites) +10 Aim, +10 Will, and +4 Movement for two turns. Enemies: Muton
Damn Good Ground	Confers +10 Aim and +10 Defense against enemies at lower elevation, in addition to the usual elevation bonuses. Enemies: EXALT Sniper, EXALT Elite Sniper
Executioner	Confers +10 Aim against targets with less than 50% health. Enemies: EXALT Elite Sniper
Holo-Targeting	Shooting at or suppressing enemies also confers +10 Aim to any allies' attacks on those enemies. Enemies: EXALT Heavy, EXALT Elite Heavy
Mindfray	Inflicts -25 Aim, -25 Will, and a Movement penalty for two turns. Enemies: Ethereal, Sectoid Commander, Uber Ethereal
Poison Spit	Inflicts -20 Aim and -3 Movement penalties, plus the loss of 1 HP per turn for three turns. Enemies: Thin Man
Poisonous Claws	Inflicts -20 Aim and -3 Movement penalties, plus the loss of 1 HP per turn for three turns. Enemies: Chryssalid
Snap Shot	Removes the sniper rifle's restriction on firing and Overwatch after moving. Shots suffer a -10 Aim penalty. Enemies: EXALT Sniper, EXALT Elite Sniper
Strangle	Inflicts 2 HP damage per turn, then -50 Aim and -75% Movement penalties while the victim is catching breath. Enemies: Seeker
Suppression	Fire a barrage that pins down a target, granting reaction fire against it and imposing a -30 Aim penalty. Enemies: EXALT Heavy, EXALT Elite Heavy, Heavy Floater, Muton, Muton Elite, Outsider, Sectoid, Thin Man

Gene Mods

Gene Mod	Description
Adrenal Neurosympathy EW	Grants +10 Aim, +5 Critical Chance, and +1 Movement to nearby soldiers upon killing an enemy. XCOM: Gene-modded soldier & nearby allies Enemies: None
Adrenaline Surge EW	Confers +10 Aim and +10% critical chance per turn when wounded. XCOM: None Enemies: EXALT Elite Operative
Depth Perception EW	Grants additional +5 Aim and +5 Critical Chance bonuses for height advantage. XCOM: Gene-modded soldier Enemies: EXALT Elite Sniper
Hyper Reactive Pupils EW	Grants a +10 Aim bonus after missing a shot. XCOM: Gene-modded soldier Enemies: None

Equipment

Item	Description
Flashbang Grenade EW	Inflicts -50 Aim and -50% Movement penalties for two turns.
Gas Grenade EW	Inflicts -20 Aim and -3 Movement penalties, plus the loss of 1 HP per turn for three turns.
Light Plasma Rifle	Grants a +10 Aim bonus.
S.C.O.P.E.	Confers a +10 Aim bonus.

Notes:

• The Light Plasma Rifle's +10 Aim bonus applies to XCOM soldiers only. Any aliens which use it (e.g. Thin Men) are not granted the bonus.

Foundry Upgrades

Upgrade	Description
Improved Pistol II	Increases Aim of all pistols by 10.
S.H.I.V. Laser	Upgrades all S.H.I.V.s to Laser Cannons: +2 Damage, +15 Aim, +5 Critical Chance.
S.H.I.V. Plasma	Upgrades all S.H.I.V.s to Plasma Cannons: +4 Damage, +25 Aim, and +10 Critical Chance.
S.H.I.V. Suppression	Allows S.H.I.V.s to use Suppression to pin down a target, imposing a -30 Aim penalty and granting reaction fire against it.

Medals

Medal	Description
Council Medal of Honor EW	+1 Aim and Will for each mission completed with no soldier deaths, up to a maximum of +10.
Council Medal of Honor EW	+10 Aim and Critical Chance if not within 7 tiles of an allied unit.
International Service Cross EW	+2 Aim per continent bonus XCOM has earned.
Urban Combat Badge EW	+5 Aim against enemies in full cover.

Aiming Angles

Aiming Angles is a Second Wave option added by the XCOM: Enemy Within expansion. Units (both XCOM and enemy) receive an Aim bonus for angled shots; the closer a unit is to flanking a target, the higher the Aim bonus.