Cover is a gameplay mechanic in XCOM: Enemy Unknown and XCOM: Enemy Within.
Overview[]
Cover improves a unit's Defense which directly reduces the Aim of enemies shooting at them; conversely, units receive a +50% Critical Chance bonus when targeting an enemy which is out of cover. Thus these two factors combine to make taking cover the most frequent, if not most important, tactical method by which soldiers are capable of reducing the overall threat posed by enemy fire. Maintaining cover is perhaps the single most important consideration on Impossible difficulty where enemies' Aim values are much higher, and almost any hit can result in instant death for a soldier.
Most cover elements in the game are susceptible to damage which can degrade or destroy the cover, thus reducing or eliminating the cover's Defense bonus. Missed shots from laser or plasma weapons may incidentally damage or remove cover, whereas cover can be deliberately damaged through the use of explosives (or a MEC's Kinetic Strike Module in XCOM: Enemy Within). Note that the use of explosives can start fires, which may in turn destroy even more cover, and also temporarily obstruct unit movement. Certain cover elements are also liable to explode when damaged; these elements include most vehicles, gas pumps, UFO Power Core, and certain barrels, and will damage any units or cover elements adjacent to them when they explode.
Cover Statistics[]
There are two types of cover available, usually referred to as partial cover and full cover.
- Partial (or half) cover confers +20 Defense
- Full cover confers +40 Defense
Notes:
- Soldiers can also Hunker Down, which doubles their cover bonus.
- The Sniper class Low Profile ability makes partial cover count as full.
Mobile Cover[]
An Alloy S.H.I.V.'s hardened shell allows it to be used for partial cover by allied soldiers. In XCOM: Enemy Within, a MEC Trooper with the One For All ability can be used for full cover. These units can reposition to provide a friendly soldier with cover when it is direly needed, such as if an alien pod is unexpectedly discovered in a position to which the soldier is exposed, after the soldier has already ended his turn. Through precise positioning, this also allows units to advance in cover while traversing hostile areas where no naturally occurring cover is available, therefore enabling the use of squad tactics such as Mobile Fortress during missions.
Flanking[]
Flanking is a simple mechanic which allows a unit to ignore the cover bonus granted to an enemy from objects in the environment. A successful flank will display a yellow shield in place of the usual red shield. However, flanking does not ignore a unit's innate Defense stat or any defensive bonuses received from abilities such as a Smoke Grenade or equipment such as Ghost Armor.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
Cover behaves similarly in XCOM 2.