Faceless (XCOM 2)

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1. Verify the claim that Regeneration ability "cures Poisoned and Burning status effects" -- this doesn't appear to be so.
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Faceless
Statistics per difficultyRookie | Veteran | Commander | Legend
Aim	60 | 75 | 75 | 75
Crit-Chance	- | 15 | 15 | 15
Health	8 | 10 | 10 | 12
Mobility	12 | 14 | 14 | 14
Will	50 | 50 | 70 | 70
Weapons /Attacks	Claws: 3-4 damage (+2 critical damage)
Abilities	Leap, Regeneration

• Concept Art
• Concept Sketches
• Animation Sheet

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The Faceless is an alien enemy encountered in XCOM 2. It serves as the aliens' primary infiltration unit.

“	We'd heard rumors about some kind of shape-shifters, I'm guessing this is it.	”
–Central Officer Bradford

Description

This unit disguises itself as a normal-looking civilian until provoked, whereupon it transforms into its true, alien form. Unnaturally tall and consisting of a gelatinous fluid, these alien foes have significant reach with their claws. The Faceless can move both farther and with more agility than may be expected from their size and lumbering gait.

Deployment

• There will always be at least one Faceless present on Retaliation missions. ^{[explanation needed]}
• These enemies are most common on Retaliation missions, but they can appear in any mission with civilians present if the Alien Infiltrator Dark Event is active.
• They can appear on mission with Savage SITREP.
• They can be summoned by a Chosen with Beastmaster perk.

Abilities

• Claws: The Faceless only attack is an area-of-effect (3 tiles) melee swipe with its claws that can damage multiple units and civilians for 3–4 damage (with up to +2 critical damage) and destroy cover. Unlike most enemies, Faceless are still able to use their melee attack while disoriented. The attack cannot be performed after dashing.
• Regeneration: The Faceless automatically self-heals for 2 HP before their turn ^{[explanation needed]}. Poisoned and burning status effects are cured.^{[explanation needed]}
• Leap: The Faceless can jump to higher surfaces such as roofs and cliffs.

Tactical Information

The threat of this unit being hidden among the general populace in conjunction with civilians having a chance of removing Concealment from the squad makes not only civilian rescue missions, but civilians in general much more of a liability.

Behavior

• The Faceless will reveal themselves under the following conditions:
  • If a member of the XCOM squad stands within a tile that would rescue the civilian the Faceless is disguised as.
  • If they take damage.
  • If they are scanned via Battle Scanner or Scanning Protocol.
  • If they are the last alien units remaining on the mission.
  • If none of these conditions are met, they will reveal themselves after a random number of turns.
• The Faceless will exclusively attack XCOM's units if they're in sight. On a Retaliation mission, if XCOM have not revealed themselves to a Faceless (such as one that transformed far away due to player eliminating all other hostiles), it will target civilians ^{[citation needed]}.
• The Faceless do not target Mimic Beacons.
• The Faceless do not take cover.

Notes

• Civilians that turn out to be a Faceless in disguise do not count against the remaining civilians in Retaliation missions.

Tips

• Having a squad member on Overwatch may deal some damage on a Faceless revealed on the same turn before it has a chance to attack.
• The Faceless have a defense stat of 0 on all difficulties; it is not difficult to hit them, especially from elevation.
• Faceless cannot be flanked, so your soldiers do not gain +40% Crit Chance flanking bonus.
• Take advantage of the elevated environment, your shots receive +20% Aim bonus with the Height Advantage.
• Scopes and Laser Sights provide Aim and Crit Chance bonuses correspondingly, and most weapons gain Weapon Range Aim bonus when fired at close proximity (e.g. Shotguns and Bull-pups gain up to +40%, Assault Rifles and Cannons gain up to +20% Aim - and magnetic tier weapons receive an extra +1%).
• Keep your units away at a distance farther than the AOE Claw attack, so that a Faceless would not be able to attack after his movement.
• If you cannot make distance to avoid the Faceless attack altogether or would not be able to certainly kill it on your turn, try getting into cover and using Hunker Down and/or use a Specialist's Aid Protocol to assist. (note that a nearby Faceless may 'flank' your unit(s), but if he is fairly far away or is baited to attack a close target, this can work)
• Poison can not only reduce the enemy Aim (-30%), but also reduces Mobility (-6), making this enemy clumsy and slightly less dangerous. And the enemy HP Regeneration is slightly offset by the poison damage as well.
• Disorienting works similarly in regards to Aim and Mobility penalties, providing -20% and -6 debuffs correspondingly.
• Avoid dashing units to civilians that have not been scanned. If the civilian turns out to be a disguised Faceless, it will reveal itself when a soldier gets too close. Because they have dashed, they will not be able to react to the Faceless' revelation.

Bugs

• Due to a bug, soldiers may not be able to shoot the Faceless if it reveals itself during the player's turn. ^{[explanation needed]}

Technical Notes

• The Faceless has sight of 12 as civilian (though only appears to have a sight radius of a typical civilian when viewed in concealment), and usual 27 in alien form.^{[explanation needed]}

Trivia

• The Faceless is similar to the Thin Man from Enemy Unknown.
• The Faceless may be a reference to X-Com: Terror from the Deep's Deep Ones and Calcinites. The Calcinite is a gelatinous creature (albeit in a diving suit) that attacks with powerful close-combat claws; the Deep One has a face that looks almost exactly like the Faceless, complete with red eyes.

See Also

• Faceless Corpse
• Faceless Autopsy