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The Gatekeeper is an alien enemy encountered in XCOM 2. The Gatekeeper occupies a 2×2 tile area.

This one is uniquely graceful compared to some of the other species we've seen-it also gives off very strong psionic readings.

Chief Lily Shen

Description[]

The Gatekeeper's smooth spherical shell creates the illusion of a mechanical unit. However, inside the shell resides a mass of flesh that reflects the utmost extremes of biomechanical integration.

Gatekeepers have an open form and a closed form.

Deployment[]

This unit is deployed on normal missions[citation needed][explanation needed] as a pod leader beginning as early as August (mid-November on Legend).

Behavior[]

  • The Gatekeeper is unable to use cover.
  • The Gatekeeper will break down walls and cover in its path, including objective targets in Missions like "Recover ADVENT crates", which could lead to the mission being lost/won depending on the objective.
  • The Gatekeeper favors targeting the Gateway where it can raise the most Psi Zombies, regardless of whether itself or allies are in the blast radius. This can also include groups of civilians if there are no nearby corpses.
  • A wounded (below 100% HP) Gatekeeper will always attempt to consume an enemy. When bloodied (50% or less) and visible to XCOM, a Gatekeeper will always attempt to consume an ally. A Gatekeeper with active debuff(s) appears to always attempt to consume an ally too.[explanation needed]

Abilities[]

They can switch between the forms with Open Shell and Close Shell as they choose, and will automatically switch to closed form upon taking damage with Retract.

  • For example, the two rounds of fire from "Chain Shot" ability of the Grenadier Class is counted as one attack to Gatekeeper's Retract, which means it will close the shell after the Chain Shot ends.

In their closed form, they have greater armor and access to their fairly inaccurate but powerful beam cannon. The beam cannon is not very accurate (based on Aim) but if it does hit then it can be devastating for your soldiers, dealing massive amounts of damage. The Gatekeeper will close the shell when moving.

In its open form, the Gatekeeper is able to use its psionic abilities, however when it does switch to open form its armor goes down as well as its defense. For example, if the Gatekeeper has 6 points of armor in its closed form, then there will be 3 points of armor in open form. (Legend difficulty: Open Shell - 4 Armor, 15 Defense; Closed Shell - 7 Armor, 40 Defense)

  • If the the Gatekeeper does not present its armor in its open form, armor shredding effects like Acid Bomb will not affect its armor in closed form.

The Gatekeeper can use its Gateway ability in its open form, which deals 5–7 damage in a large radius (approximately 7 tiles), and raises any corpses of organic beings (Whether it be ADVENT, Civilian or XCOM) in the area—including ones killed by the Gateway damage—as Psi Zombies, which it can control and use against enemies. The range of this ability is approximately 12 tiles.

It is also able to use the Consume ability in its open form, which deals huge damage (7-10 damage) against a single target in melee range, which heals the Gatekeeper for equal to the damage dealt and will raise the unit as a Psi Zombie if it is susceptible and is killed by the attack or if dead humanoid bodies are in the area of effect.

Dying Explosion. When the Gatekeeper dies, it triggers a damaging explosion. It will explode upon death, blasting a 3-tile range for up to 7 damage[explanation needed], 2 armor shredded.

Fire Beam. By opening a miniature gateway and the released energy, a Gatekeeper can project destructive force at extreme range[explanation needed]. This ability can only be activated in closed form.

Tips[]

  • With an innate Defense stat of 40 in the Commander and Legend difficulties, a closed Gatekeeper is as hard to hit as a humanoid unit behind full cover.
  • Re-positioning the squad away from humanoid corpses and leading enemies over them can be a useful strategy.
  • The Gatekeeper, as an organic enemy, is vulnerable to the full effects of Flashbangs and Gas grenades. Additionally, certain mechanical effects will affect it as well: EMP GrenadesBluescreen Rounds, although it takes no bonus damage from Combat Protocol.
    • When a Gas Grenade cloud is on top of the Gatekeeper, it may avoid moving or acting entirely, opening and closing its shell until all actions are consumed.
  • Psionic abilities, including Domination, are all effective provided the Psi Operative can overcome its high Will. With an Alien Psi Amp, it is reasonably possible to take permanent control of one for easy terrain demolition and frontline reinforcements. Its high defense makes it a poor decoy on its own. However, the number of Psi Zombies it is able to conjure can make up for this.
  • Psi Zombies raised by a Mind Controlled Gatekeeper are friendly and can be moved. However, should Mind Control be lost, Psi Zombies raised this way will die and will count against you in the 'Soldiers Killed' statistic at the end of the mission.
  • After using its psionic abilities, the Gatekeeper will remain in its open form until it is damaged once (this includes damage from a stock). In this form they have less armor and less defense. It is advisable to use a non shredding or piercing attack first or an attack that does less damage than its total armor count when closed to exploit this, stunning or freezing attacks are also recommended since it cant close its shell again.

Trivia[]

See Also[]

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