Skirmishers

Children of Blood
Default Skirmisher insignia
Type	Rogue ADVENT collective
Founded	2029
Organization
Leadership	Betos Pratal Mox

The Skirmishers are a Resistance faction introduced in the XCOM 2 expansion, War of the Chosen.

They are one of the three Resistance factions that are actively hunting The Chosen. They are former ADVENT soldiers with the neural chip connecting them to the alien's Psionic Network removed. As a result, they are free from the aliens' control and looking to redeem themselves for the sins of their past. They are lead by Betos, the first Skirmisher ever disconnected due to a defective chip implant. Skirmishers wear customized ADVENT armor and helmet to distinguish themselves.

Although they are consistently referred to as Skirmishers, their specific name and insignia are randomly generated or selected with every playthrough (see infobox and this section). Click here to generate another set.

Resistance Orders

Main article: Resistance Orders

Skirmishers Resistance Orders focus on exploiting weaknesses of ADVENT and providing insider knowledge to XCOM.

Bomb Squad
	Experimental Grenade and Heavy Weapon projects are completed instantly in the Proving Grounds.
"Give us your most powerful weapons, and we will gladly deliver their fury to the Elders." - Betos
Decoys and Deceptions
	All knowledge gained by the Chosen is reduced by 33%.
"The Elders' Chosen are not as superior as they would have us believe." - Betos
Double Agent
	On every mission, there is a chance that an ADVENT unit will join the XCOM squad. Can trigger together with the Reapers Resistance Order Volunteer Army.
"There are still those waiting to be freed from the Elders' service, we must only find them." - Betos
Impact Modeling
	The speed of all armor research is increased by 15%.
"With freedom, adaptation has been critical to the survival of my kind." - Betos
Information War
	The Tech Defense of all enemies and hack targets is lowered by -20.
"Their network has many vulnerabilities, it was conceived of by humans under duress." - Betos
Inside Job I
	All Intel rewards increased by 10%.
"Use our knowledge of their ways to further the cause." - Betos
Inside Job II
	All Intel rewards increased by 15%.
"None have seen more of the Elders' false vision than those who have served them." - Betos
Inside Knowledge
	The effect of all weapon modifications is increased.
"When our bodies were freed, our minds still retained all that we knew of our training." - Betos
Integrated Warfare
	All PCS effects are increased.
"My kind were bred for enhancement." - Betos
Modular Construction
	Facility construction speed is increased by 25%.
"My kind know all too well the Elders' means of quickly infesting new worlds." - Betos
Private Channel
	All mission timers are increased by 2 turns.
"The Elders' forces have flaws, weaknesses to be exploited by those aware." - Betos
Quid Pro Quo
	All Black Market costs reduced by 33%.
"We requested a discount. They were not in a position to decline." - Betos
Sabotage
	Remove one block of Avatar Progress at the end of every month. Removes 1 dot from the Avatar statue in the ocean. If the the statue has no dot under it, removes 1 dot from any Facility on the map instead, which may result in Facilities with 0 dot.
"As the Elders' vision crumbles, we will bask in their anger." - Betos
Tactical Analysis
	Enemy units lose one action on their next turn if discovered on the XCOM turn. Most enemies will have only one action left, and can either move or attack -- but not both. Exceptions being Sectopods and Gatekeepers as they have 3 actions in a turn. ADVENT Stun Lancers often shoot instead of melee due to not being able to cover the distance with one action. ADVENT Purifiers often run away into cover if their flame attack cannot reach your soldier from where they stand. Codex can still attack as normal with one action, as their Teleport ability costs no action.
"Without our Commander to lead them, ADVENT has limited tactical options." - Betos
Under the Table I
	The Black Market pays a 20% Supply Premium for goods.
"There was no discussion needed, our terms were met on first glance." - Betos
Under the Table II
	The Black Market pays a 30% Supply Premium for goods.
"Some are intimidated by our kind, and if it furthers the cause, we will impose upon them." - Betos
Vulture
	Enemies drop additional loot items.
"Take everything they have stolen from this world." - Betos
Weak Points
	Any shredding attack from XCOM does an additional +1 shred to the target. Does not increase shred of a Claymore.
"The Elders' protection of those bound to their will has its limits." - Betos

Soldiers

Skirmishers are a hero unit class in XCOM 2. They are armed with the KAL-7 Bullpup and a Ripjack as their primary and secondary weapons respectively. Their abilities are specialized in order to gain additional actions for their turn and be able to make use of them effectively.

By default, Skirmishers have a skill called Marauder that allows them to fire without ending the Skirmisher's turn. This allows them to take as many shots as they have remaining actions, or shoot and move in any order.

They also have the ability to Grapple to higher positions without consuming any actions, and they are able to use their grapple to grab onto enemies with abilities like Justice.

In the Lost and Abandoned story mission, a Skirmisher with the fixed name Pratal "Mox" Mox appears and is abducted by the Chosen Assassin at the end of the mission - a Covert Action to recover them becomes available soon afterward.

Abilities

Resistance Faction hero units are not promoted like traditional XCOM soldiers. Instead, they gain ability points with every promotion to spend on their abilities. A resistance faction unit can buy multiple abilities from the same rank but requires that rank to purchase it. Players may use their ability points from both the unit's own reserves and the shared XCOM pool of ability points to purchase abilities.

The Skirmisher has three different paths of abilities. The Hussar path focuses on free actions and allowing the Skirmisher to use their abilities often and effectively. The Judge path focuses on Ripjack attacks, improving the Skirmisher's abilities in melee combat and giving them additional methods to initiate melee combat. The Tactician path focuses on the Skirmisher's ability to make the most out of their actions and turns by giving them bonuses by being combat active during their turn.

As with all Resistance Faction hero units, Skirmishers can also buy abilities typically used by normal XCOM soldiers for use in the field. The Skirmisher, in particular, is able to purchase some Grenadier and pistol-oriented Sharpshooter abilities like Volatile Mix and Return Fire.

	HUSSAR	JUDGE	TACTICIAN
Squaddie	Marauder - Shots are not turn ending, allowing for shooting and moving or shooting twice in a turn.	Justice - Use the Grapple to pull a humanoid unit to you and deliver a ripjack strike. 4 turn cooldown.	Grapple - Deploy a grappling hook to move quickly to an elevated position.
Corporal	Reflex - When fired upon, gain one extra action on the next turn. Triggers once per mission.		Total Combat - Throwing a grenade or using an item no longer ends the turn.
Sergeant		Wrath - Use the Grapple to pull yourself to an enemy and deliver a ripjack strike. 4 turn cooldown. (Does not share a cooldown with Justice.)	Zero In - Subsequent shots on the same turn provide +10 critical chance. If against the same target, they also grant +10 hit chance.
Lieutenant		Whiplash - Attack an enemy with an electrical lash. This attack does not cost an action. 1 charge per mission.	Full Throttle - Gain +2 mobility for every kill this turn.
Captain	Combat Presence - Grant an additional action to a squadmate.	Retribution - Free ripjack strikes on any enemies that enter or attack from melee range.	Interrupt - A powerful form of Overwatch. Instead of firing automatically, perform any single action. 1 charge per mission.
Major	Waylay - When entering Overwatch, you can take as many shots as you have remaining actions.	Reckoning - Unlocks the Ripjack Slash attack. 5 turn cooldown.
Colonel	Manual Override - Lower all ability cooldowns by 1. Does not end the turn.	Battlelord - After each enemy in line of sight takes an action, take an immediate action. 1 charge per mission. Lasts 1 turn.	Judgement - When targeted by an attack, the enemy has a chance to panic.

Justice

This ripjack attack has +25% bonus Aim. The attack benefits from the height advantage, but is penalized if enemy is using cover. Can damage or break enemy cover (especially on missed attacks) as well as some tiles around the Skirmisher.

Wrath

This ripjack attack has +25% bonus Aim. The attack benefits from the height advantage, but is penalized if enemy is using cover.

Zero In

Using a Free Reload granted by Weapon Upgrades resets this bonus (i.e. cannot shoot, reload for free, then benefit from Zero In on the subsequent shot).

Whiplash

Can be a critical hit attack, however, the resulting damage is not increased.

Retribution

Is essentially a Ranger's Bladestorm ability, and its Aim derives from the unit's base Aim parameter value: it can miss any enemy and can be dodged (Slash, Justice, and Wrath abilities, on the other hand, gain additional Aim bonus). A Retribution attack is also activated on any adjacent hostile units (including temporarily mind-controlled XCOM units) performing attacks, melee or ranged, targeted at other units. ^{[explanation needed] [explanation needed]}

Reckoning

The Slash attack gains +20% Aim and deals damage equal to the ripjack attack. Costs only 1 action point, even if the Skirmished dashed to hit the enemy.

XCOM Possible Abilities

• Return Fire - When targeted by enemy fire, automatically fire back with your bullpup once per turn.
• Tactical Rigging - Provides an additional utility slot.
• Lightning Reflexes - Each turn, the first Reaction shot against you misses.
• Volatile Mix - Your grenades deal +2 damage.
• Saturation Fire - Fire a cone shaped barrage of bullets at every enemy in an area. In addition, the cover of those enemies can be damaged or destroyed. Uses 3 ammunition.

Tactical Information

Main article: Skirmisher Class/Guides

Faction Name and Insignia

The name and insignia are randomly generated. Unlike Reapers, there are multiple elements to the insignia (the one on the right has been randomly generated).

Faction Name

The game chooses the base name and then applies either a prefix or suffix (never both at once).

Prefix	Name	Suffix
Hellfire	Crusaders	of Blood
Flame	Phalanx	of Chaos
Solar	Rebels	of Dusk
Sunrise	Riders	of Flame
Sunset	Troopers	of Vengeance
Vengeful	Vanquishers	of the Dawn
Unyielding	Warriors	of the Sun
Judging	Harbingers	of Justice
	Legion	of Judgment
	Brigade	of the Apocalypse
	Children

Faction Insignia

Possible bottom elements

Possible top elements

Gallery

Videos

XCOM 2 War of the Chosen - Inside Look The Skirmisher

Skirmisher Promo Video

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Reason: ability cooldowns, images.