WARNING: This article or section may contain spoilers!
The Avatar is an alien enemy encountered in XCOM 2. They are the ultimate goal of the ADVENT occupation on Earth: a new series of bodies for the Elders that are far more healthy than their decaying Ethereal ones, but still exponentially more powerful psionically.
Description
This newly integrated enemy is rumored to be the remnants of the Ethereal, merged with the best genes of the human race, to create the "Avatar". They appear to be androgynous, heavily armored white-haired humans in purple facemasks that resemble the Ethereals' helmets.
Having a lot of health, damage potential and mobility, this unit is one of the strongest in the game. Killing it should be your priority as it can easily annihilate your squad.
Abilities
- Mind Control: The Avatar can take the control of multiple units. A single enemy Avatar can have multiple units under mind control at the same time. The link is broken if you kill the Avatar. (Flashbang Grenade doesn't sever the mind control but damages the Avatar.) Mind Control lasts 4 turns.
- When the first Avatar is encountered by skulljacking a Codex, a Psi Operative with the Solace ability is incredibly useful for removing Mind Control from your units.
- However, the Avatars in the final mission can ignore Solace with their Mind Control.
- Teleport: The Avatar can teleport for the cost of 1 action, which means he can use an ability or fire right after.
- The Avatar uses this ability as a reaction to every damage received (in a manner similar to the Codex's Clone). However, it teleports only after the current action is finished. Therefore, you can kill him with multiple Overwatch shots before he can teleport. Similarly, multiple shots from Rapid Fire or Chain Shot can hit the Avatar without it teleporting in between.
- The Commander's Avatar is not able to teleport, either during your turn or in response to damage.
- Dimensional Rift: The Avatar can target a massive area for a powerful AOE attack, damaging all units inside of the Dimensional Rift. At the end of the enemies' next turn, the Dimensional Rift will collapse, dealing additional damage to all units still within.
- Null Lance: The Avatar fires a beam of energy in a line in any direction, dealing a large amount of damage to any units within the beam's path, bypassing any obstacles in its way. Identical to the Psi Operative ability.
- Psi Fortress: The Avatar is immune to condition-inflicting psionic attacks such as Insanity and Mind Control. It can still, however, be damaged by skills such as Null Lance, Soulfire and Void Rift.
Note
- Killing an Avatar reduces the progress of the Avatar Project by 3 points.
- Avatars will regenerate 5 HP every turn, so, if possible, try to dispose of the Avatar in a single turn.
- As an Avatar can teleport after receiving damage, a good strategy is to spread your units out to attack it no matter where it teleports, in a single turn.
- Avatar is immune only to negative mental effects. Use poison, acid and fire-inducing weapons to negate health recovery and (with fire) to block its abilities.
Notes
- An Avatar spawns when you Skullmine a Codex (which you can only do once).
- In the last mission of the campaign, Operation Leviathan, the XCOM Commander is briefly inserted into a man-made Avatar body. Since enemy Avatars are immune to mind control, this is the only way to control an Avatar over the course of the single-player game.
- Commander's Avatar (Mind Control): When using the Commander's Avatar, be aware that unlike the Psi Operative's Domination ability, the Avatar's Mind Control ability is only temporary. It will expire after a few turns, and the alien you are controlling will turn hostile and attack if it is not killed by the time mind control ends. (Note that your units can fire weapons at mind-controlled enemies.) To make up for this, Mind Control can be used multiple times throughout the mission, unlike Domination.
Trivia
- A projection of an Ethereal from the previous XCOM game can be seen behind the Avatar. Presumably this is a manifestation of the Ethereal mind controlling the Avatar, since it dissolves upon the Avatar's death.
- Internally, the Avatar is refered to as a "Psi Witch", which is presumably an unused enemy that would have been used as a psionic unit for ADVENT.
Gallery
