XCOM 2 Tips: Andromedon Tactics Guide (How to Kill Andromedon)

[@RobertSela]

One point not mentioned here: Andromedons in their first form have extreme weakness against psi attacks. Even a weak psi will mind control them with an at least fifty fifty chance and lesser powers like Insanity almost always work. Having a psi in your team basically neutralizes their threat level completely.

[@RobertOsowiecki]

My tactic for andromedons was: dominate it and send as my front attack force :D It can withstand three rounds of its former allies wrath, while my squad is safe attacking from second line. I even often send drones to support or heal it! The drawback is that his second form is no longer dominated and immediately changes side :/

[@syncmonism]

They're extremely useful while you're controlling them too, as they are exceptionally tanky, and have a hard hitting gun.

[@darealsaneasylum]

@@RobertOsowiecki you can hack it then

[@Laireso]

Then you don't get the exp for killing them though, psi ops are great for late-game, but if you need xp on any of your Captains or Majors trying to roll an AWC ability, the domination is straight detrimental. I still use psi ops for the rest of their kit, the stasis is great to keep them frozen if my lvling soldier misses or already killed something, it concentrates the amount of kills for the soldier I want, similar to a mimic beacon, but instead of one-use only it's a cooldown ability which is extremely useful for this. The only alternative is getting good RNG on rolling UFO mission and then going hams on the reinforcement pods, but that happens only like 1-2 per playthrough.

[@evilemperorzurg9615]

Casting domination is by far the best option. They have a surprisingly high rate of success and I think are the strongest enemy unit you can dominate.

[@ShroudedInDarkness1999]

If you don't have the time to make the Avenger's Psi Chamber and never really care about trophies, turn one of your soldier's first name into Sid and the last name into Meier.

[@Not-Andy-Here]

​@@ShroudedInDarkness1999 And what the hell does that do?! Come on you can't just leave us hanging like that

[@Fufuneraire]

You can also use a spray paint can. He will be blind, open his suit to see something then die from the atmosphere. OP tactic :p

[@TapCat]

Lol, I actually love this idea and wish the game was flexible enough to allow you creative ways to missions. Hitman meets XCOM!

[@hithere5553]

Yo, imagine a paint bomb that does no damage, but gives all mask wearing/ camera using enemies a permanent debuff and ignores all others, and maybe even blocks line of sight on windows.

[@GandalfTheSilver]

Hi There Thats amazing.

[@rollfizzlebeef5384]

XCOM introduces a new item to their arsenal. The splat bomb, AKA a middle finger to andromedons.

[@axeldrane]

How do you research the 'spray paint can' item? Can any class use it?

[@Orion_Fritz]

How to kill an Andromedon: step 1: don't, mind control them, they are almost unkillable in the player's hand. By far my favorite thing to take control of in battle, with the exception of gatekeepers

[@FNGLHR]

They're my go slave soldier. I end up only having to kill them once at most. I make them aggro all their friends, murder them and then leave it alive to consider how it has literally betrayed their xeno cause just as a final bit of "fuck you" to them. It's immensely satisfying.

[@chrisaaslid]

It should be noted that if your dominated androminion dies, it returns as a hostile robot. The robot is hackable though.

[@legnd300]

If only I had that tech :c

[@chrisaaslid]

Personally, I find Gatekeepers a more useful domination target.

[@nekuchan900]

I like dominating cerberus

[@tallblondeguy]

I'm surprised you didn't mention how awesome it is to have a dominated andro

[@TapCat]

That's a fair point. I don't typically play with psionic soldiers and that's probably why I didn't think about it.

[@DrGhoztz]

TapCat Why not? I've watched all your xcom 2 guide videos and you never really state why other than the fact they take a long time to become effective soldiers and you prefer to overtake the aliens as fast as possiable.. *But what about when you play the Long War 2 mod?* The fact psionics level independantly of actual combat means that, if you can spare the 200 resources and 5 power, itll eventually result in atleast 1 capable psionic. *Theyre kind of a passive class.* As far as I can tell, the skills they gain are overpowered as no alien aside from sectopods has a decent stratagey for taking care of the unit.

[@ragingdonut4301]

Honestly, I find psionic soldiers to be the most fun. (Incredibly helpful too, though their detonate ability is semi-lame)

[@DrGhoztz]

Ragingdonut Same; I find them really OP. *However TapCats said multiple times in his videos he doesn't bother using psionics..* kinda curious why.

[@GandalfTheSilver]

Dr. Ghoztz Maybe because they're "OP"...?

[@teds8860]

Don't kill the first phase on overwatch. The robot phase will have all its moves back and attack you in that same turn.

[@jojo51ytb]

Hi XCom Buddy! I really like your video of XCom2 and share vast tactics opinion with you. But I just found on this one, a good tips that you didn't mention and that I think it is very helpfull. So, during his second "life", this alien can be hacked with a specialist that garantee you to get a very helpful "Tank" in your party at least during 2 turns (legendary difficulty). Thanks to this, you can use it as a new "mimic" because enemies usually target the hacked minions on their sight. Leave them kill the Andromedon and focus your turn 100% on others aliens ! ;)

[@TapCat]

Hello and thanks for watching as well as posting your comment. While I don't usually choose Haywire Protocol on my specialists, you're absolutely right that the 2nd life of the Andromedon is one of the very best targets for that ability. If you successfully hack it, it will soak up a number of shots from the enemy even if it never deals any damage itself.

[@circle7489]

My favorite tactic is to have a ranger have the untouchable perk and use it to kill off the first stage. The Ai will force I to attack the closest target so get the ranger as close as possible.

[@TapCat]

I agree 100% with this!

[@brandontankersley8107]

Templar with parry is even better. He will almost always draw aggro in adjacency and can solo it for both kills.

[@Order-fs9bv]

Bladestorm blademaster ranger with untouchable boom you just damaged the second phase of the andromedon and took nothing as damage

[@knightveg]

They are easily killed especially near the end of game, What I find hard is when you're surrounded by 4/5 other enemies you have to take them down as well

[@jonzeyyy1099]

I don't know how I found your channel but it definitely helps. Thanks, Topcat.

[@themaverick427]

Good Video. Another thing I found useful was the sniper's Killzone ability. Basically you set down a killzone over the Andromedon and his squad, set a few more soldiers on overwatch and then trigger the pod (I like to use a grenade for the shred). If the Andromedon loses its first life in the killzone area which is likely with the killzone shot plus some other overwatch hits, the suit will trigger a second killzone shot from the sniper when it revives. Lets your sniper get 2 shots onto it during an ambush.

[@TapCat]

I haven't actually seen this myself. Are you saying that the andromedon doesn't even need to move? The simple act of reviving triggers the 2nd shot? If so, that really is a nice play.

[@themaverick427]

The Andromedon Shell needs to move, but since it gets to move the same turn it revives it will always trigger the second Killzone Shot as long as it died within the zone. (You probably will need an extended mag on your sniper though as he'll usually have fired 3 shots before the shell gets to go) Its one of my favourite ways of setting up an ambush from concealment.

[@TapCat]

I gotcha, and I prefer using an extended mag on a sniper build anyway (largely because it is so good with Killzone). Up to this point, I prefer gunslingers overall but I've promised myself to give snipers another try in my next campaign so I'll definitely try to remember this tactic and appreciate you posting it!

[@KaoticReach1999]

Best XCom 2 guides/channel by far Subbed and will be watching your other videos on other stuff!

[@TapCat]

Welcome to the channel, glad you found the video helpful!

[@vHelixx-]

The second i met the Archon, is when i started reaching my limit as to how far into the campaign i can go. 2 or so missions later and there's a bloody codex, and then a mission after that, there's 2 codexes and an andromadon. Finished that mission with 2 wounded, and 1 kia soldier. I'ma run out of soldiers or the dooms clock is going to kick in because I don't have enough intel to get more contacts for the other facilities I've found

[@pinkspider1978]

Love mind controlling these with the Psi soldiers.

[@TapCat]

I've more or less promised myself to go for Psi soldiers early in my next campaign so I can fully experience the joys they offer!

[@acutefailure1]

gonna just keep this video open for the foreseeable future.

[@sortehuse]

This video was very helpful when I first watched it some years ago. Thanks :-)

[@avocedo975]

Step one : bring psi ops Step two : you dont kill it

[@n1ghtwalk3r54]

It's not that great on rookie because they only have 12 health and 3 Armor but insanly good on legend

[@doommeter]

Liking that calm and collected guide.

[@TapCat]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

[@mal-bane4683]

Can you do a video on sectopods? They're giving me a lot of trouble

[@danielvindhjarta2851]

You deal with them like you deal with every other high tier enemy. The first you need to do is knowing when they appear. If you play your campaign well you should have the Shadow Chamber up by the time they start appearing, if not they always appear in the month after you first encounter Andromedons. ALWAYS have a soldier with bluescreen rounds on every mission (exception would be when the Shadow Chamber shows a low number of robotic units, but that's rare), and you should especially equip them on someone with a double shot ability (chain shot, rapid fire). If you get lucky and get one of these as your "hidden" abilities in the training center you should pick them asap. Bluescreen are key, because they affect the 3 big late game enemies (Andromedons, Gatekeepers, Sectopods). ... And that's basically all you have to do. Shred their armor and then just double shoot them with bluescreen. Grenadiers do both, so make sure you keep them alive so you have a high level one available when the Sectopods arrive. If your problem is that you often find yourself in situations where you have to deal with a surprise Sectopod AND several other pods of enemies at the same time, or you cannot reach the sectopod with your grenadier when it appears, the problem is most likely not the Sectopod but rather your base tactics. You can beat Sectopods and Gatekeepers with mag weapons and lieutenants, but not if you play badly to begin with. My best tip here is to make sure you have a few get-out-of-jail-free-cards (soldiers with untouchable, Templar with Parry, Mimic Beacons, and so on) and then do your best to make sure the Sectopod go for them instead of your other soldiers. Oh, and make sure you save those abilities until last every turn. No point putting the mimic beacon on the guy with shredder for example, since you'll be initiating with him/her.

[@Admiralkirk95]

A little envious of the 60 fps since I'm a console player, as the campaign continues I find the game starts to get even more jumpy.

[@seb2750]

Thanks Tapcat!

[@Laireso]

I find using Ranger with Rapid Fire and Talon rounds the best to one-shot the first phase, even with armor as long as both hit you need just 1 crit and with all the bonuses you are guaranteed to crit both shots, the finishing of 1st phase still counts as a kill so your Ranger gets his Implacable+Unstoppable, unlike when you take 1/2 HP from Sectopod/Gatekeeper so that split HP bar is actually beneficial for Rangers. Then the 2nd phase doesn't recognize cover so any psi ops and specialists in the back can 2 tap it with bluescreen rounds very accurately and from long range which are the best targets for more reserved classes that don't get huge accuracy bonuses or damage potential, alternatively Chain Shot or another Rapid Fire can expedite the kill by using only 1 soldier for it, but only with bluescreen rounds and usually I let the ones with rifles take the shots as they don't get as many opportunities as those closer to the frontline. Sadly Deadeye even with bluescreen rounds lacks just a bit to guarantee kill the 2nd phase of Andromedon or even the Heavy MEC. It can only one-shot the Heavy turrets. That's the main reason why I stray from Sharpshooters in late-game, Deadeye is just too underpowered for Legendary, but I agree on Commander and below Serial is completely broken, it's just on Legendary there aren't any full HP targets you could one-shot and relying on Deadeye to continue Serial even to kill basic troopers, captains or shield-bearers feels awful. Even if you weaken the enemies with AoE from other classes you still get only 6 shots off (assuming the final mission not regular mission where the 3 free reloads hard carry Sharpshooters) and then are near useless until the 5-turn cooldown ticks down. I think Sharpshooters by far the weakest class in base game and you're going to benefit greatly from taking another Grenadier, Ranger or a Specialist. If you need the crowd control Sharpshooter provided, the Grenadier with Saturation fire would be the best, followed by Psi ops and finally a Ranger with Reaper/Bladestorm. The only uncontested quality of Sharpshooter is setting up overwatch traps through Kill Zone and a concealed Ranger, which isn't strategy you can always rely on. The enemy pods are even coded to specifically stop moving when Concealed Ranger has them in sight to not trigger the Kill Zone/Long Watch during their turn. It can work in regular missions, usually... but in the final mission without free reloads by the time you enter the final room where there isn't any truly amazing high ground spot to setup in, they are really underwhelming one-trick-ponies.

[@aeureus]

I mainly just get my psionic soldier to mind control and BOOM, I have a tank to draw fire and unleash danger :)

[@elredgreenjester5147]

your vids. are very helpful. thank you

[@stringsthings]

Good tips. I very much dislike andromedons. I just had a reaper in low cover killed by a one-shot from an andromedon at some distance. It was the first one encountered in the current campaign, so I wasn't quite up to powered armor. Fortunately, my remaining 5 soldiers were able to clean up the andromedon and his pod and then go kill the assassin in the ascension chamber. So that was a good thing. If I would've had my reaper, the assassin would've been even easier.

[@TapCat]

The andromedon can really be punishing, and they're one of the more versatile enemies in the game which makes defending against them especially tough. Sorry to hear that you lost your reaper to one, but congrats on bagging the Assassin!

[@RecklessInternetting]

I'm not even playing XCom2 right now but I'm enjoying the cadence of your voice. No homo.

[@Goobid4]

Customisation question. How did you get Kevlar and predator armors mixed? Also great video love XCOM

[@TapCat]

I use quite a few mods for letting me do more customizing of uniforms.

[@Goobid4]

TapCat ah I see. I'm a Xbox player and I have been since XCOM EU/EW I'm one for customising. Thanks for the info!!

[@dailyvlogsweekly4996]

4:46, how do you have a 118% chance to crit? HOW!?!?

[@SCPHYsicsGeek]

that's actually really easy to accomplish with a ranger in the late game! Basically your stacking all kinds of Critical Chance increasing items / mods / abilities on them & as long as you're on a flank... it'll be a guaranteed crit (as long as it's a hit). I mean, you can see the break-down on the critical hit chance in the lower right as well. Superior Laser Sight (weapon mod), Talon rounds (ammo type, proving ground), Hunters instince (Guerrilla tactics school upgrade) are all key components.

[@HellishSpoon]

I love these guys Im using playable aliens mods and they are a blast

[@TapCat]

That's cool, haven't tried that one myself but andromedons are definitely beasts!

[@v1tr1us2]

Andromedons are among my favorite alien enemies solely for the sounds they make.

[@asddsa878gamer]

A gunslinger sharpshooter with bluescreen can handle it really easily too with just 2 pistol shots, so you can use quickdraw to shoot twice, lightning hands plus a normal shot, fanfire etc.

[@TapCat]

Just to clarify, the bluescreen rounds will only help in the 2nd phase of the fight. But, yes, a gunslinger equipped that way would wreck an andromedon at that point of the fight.

[@asddsa878gamer]

oh yeah definetly

[@themadhatter6554]

Just an idea but what about a spin off game were you are in control of the alien side. Having all these aliens byt upgrade them like your troops ext

[@Dcook85]

All too often one of these bastards has punished me for clumping my soldiers with an acid bomb. I also hate when it draws a circle of acid around your squad on it's second phase making it impossible to move without getting burned.

[@TheNamelessScholarOfficial]

Can you do one on Sectopods?

[@RobertOsowiecki]

That's how lessons at GTS on Avenger's deck look like.

[@RedCrusader-ph2vk]

"She's at full health and is equipped with predator armor. Surely this Andromedon won't kill her in one punch."

[@tekkenbd30fan70]

Indeed dude very helpfull

[@Legacy0901]

Fun fact I didn't see in the comments, phase 2 can be hacked with your specialist as if it was a mech

[@andrewryder5158]

I could finish my latest campaign whenever I want but I like to make it last as long as possible

[@stayniftyGuyFaceMannPersonDude]

Three-Dog OWWWWW!

[@skylermosby3375]

If you'd like you've done a breakdown for almost every enemy, I'm surprised you don't have a priority ranking video.

[@TapCat]

I probably should have done one but I don't think the idea had occurred to me at the time.

[@tahirpatan]

We're so over due for xcom 3!

[@TapCat]

I wouldn't be surprised if we hear something at E3 this year. To be fair, I also wouldn't be shocked if that happened next year, but we might as well be optimistic!

[@joeknights1741]

I know I'm a couple of years late but I HATE those things and all ways lose all five members of my squad cuz of them but I think that's cuz I didn't know how to take them on properly

[@redwaltz_019]

If they're robotic at phase two, does that make them vulnerable to hackers?

[@TapCat]

Yes. They're vulnerable to mind control through psionics in their first phase and hacking in their second. I probably should touched on that in the video.

[@DarkTider]

I think you really should have mentioned how phase 2 is vulnerable to hacking. That was my favorite strategy for stopping them. Simply nuke down phase 1, then make sure that I can immiediately hack it to put it out of comission for phase 2, and kill it at my leisure.

[@TapCat]

I agree. It's certainly a valid strategy and if you have a decent hacking skill paired with Haywire Protocol, it's well worth considering.

[@paulleepoy7236]

Admit it xcom2 is a war zone with the Advent,it's fun when xcom is out numbered too.

[@halotis66]

For the end game enemies, what soldier class is best?

[@TapCat]

It doesn't really work that way, because you need the different skills for different situations. The specialist is the one I get the least out of in the late game, but rangers, grenadiers and sharpshooters (particularly gunsligers) are all extremely useful. My typical squad composition is 2 rangers, 2 grenadiers, 1 sharpshooter, and 1 specialist. I have guides for all the classes if you're interested, because the abilities and equipment you choose will make a huge difference (as will play style).

[@dtdumb]

A secret way to kill an adromodon. Use 2 sparks with rockets or a more powerful heavy weapon [not a flamethrower.]

[@TheStapleGunKid]

This video was only of limited help because it only described how to beat it with high level skills like untouchable. Chance are, you'll be encountering Andromedons long before you get that. Plus what if you don't have a ranger on the team when you encounter them? Not a bad video, it just could have covered more situations than when you encounter it with high level skills and have the exact right man for the job.

[@davidabonyi4556]

What happens if you kill the first phase of the Andromedon with overwatch?

[@whimsicalchronicles8798]

you initiate phase 2 it gets all actions back and it will keep going

[@jaypea30]

The only thing to rival my Pure hate of those dang things is the sectopod

[@dragonfable66]

John lathrop fighting sectopods generally sucks.... i usually have one of my grenadiers suppress them since anything from that bastard hits. Hard. And generally its never a good thing whenever a sectopod gets the drop on you

[@gracecalis5421]

Honestly Sectopods never gave me that much trouble. Just use your specialist to shut it down for two turns, its pretty much dead once you get a ranger within firing range.

[@Benjamitus1]

By the time you usually find one you have a psi operative so just mind control it

[@hamednaser4972]

But what if my ranger is low level ( not too low, but low as in he doesn’t have untouchable).

[@TapCat]

Your grenadiers are key to killing him in the first phase by shredding its armor. If you're playing WotC, then have your templar attack and use parry. There's a high chance that even in phase 1, the Andromedon will use a melee attack against him. It's obviously better if you can kill his phase 1 version before the end of the turn because once he's a pure robot, then it's basically guaranteed that he'll attack an adjacent opponent. Once you get him to phase 2, then blue screen rounds will wreck him and he's vulnerable to hacking so you can shut him down or even take control of him. And, again, you can just use a templar to tank him every turn using parry and that will completely neutralize him.

[@Molly-vn2hf]

Amdromedons are so cool to me

[@steverliu1886]

How to kill sectopods and codex please, thanks

[@whensomethingcriesagain]

Codexes only have 12HP, so they're far from unstoppable. Just whittle them down as fast as you can, try and prioritize taking them out early in the turn. As for the Sectopod, well, they're colossally overpowered. You're going to want Bluescreen rounds, acid grenades, and armor shredding attacks. Don't cluster your soldiers together, take out the armor early on, and hit it with every powerful ability you've got. Deadeye, Rapid Fire, Chain Shot, and Shredder are good skills to have on hand. If you can, bring someone in a WAR suit, preferably with a Blaster Launcher (it's got the longest range and most versatility). Hit it with everything you've got.

[@shreks5556]

Sam Geuvenen if you don’t it fires twice which is a kill

[@sergrun]

I don't remember, is it possible to hack his second phase?

[@TapCat]

Yes it is

[@sergrun]

TapCat thanks!

[@MhmD-TH]

i was watching this while editing my latest video i already uploaded the video but i just edited with random dialogue i thought of

[@arandomidiothasappeared2319]

Step 1: Dominate

[@dragonfable66]

My snipers with bliescreen rounds laugh at them... then again my bluescree round snipers genreally laugh at anything mechanical. I made obe my go to mechanical killer as a backup if my support fails to hack and enslave em

[@TapCat]

Personally, I use grenadiers with chain-shot as my bluescreen robot-killers but as long as you've got somebody in that role then I'd say you're on the right track.

[@zoruafox7512]

TheXIIIth if your gonna give a sharpshooter bluescreen rounds give it to a gunslinger. Each shot gets their damage increased by five against robotic enemies. Best to be able to take five shots against them while robotic for an increase of 25 damage compared to an increase of 5 damage against it.

[@gabersen]

how do you dispatch of sectopods?

[@TapCat]

First, watch my guide on grenadiers because they are the key to killing sectopods and gatekeepers easily. Have 2 of them in your party equipped with blue screen rounds. One fires a single shot at the sectopod to put holotargeting on and soften him up a little. The 2nd uses Chain Shot which will leave it almost dead. After that, almost anyone in your party can finish it off because it will have no armor and very little health.

[@stickmanbrains]

If it can operate without a guy inside then why put the guy inside

[@Holacalaca]

Or just use the op chosen weapons

[@meepmonster750]

How to kill Andomadmama: Shoot it (End of video)

[@paulscott2037]

by far these are the most irritating enemies in the game.

[@TapCat]

The first time I killed one and watched it bounce right back it was certainly a bad moment!

[@MhmD-TH]

TapCatVids same

[@InquisitorThomas]

Paul Scott The Gatekeeper would like to have a word with you

[@paulscott2037]

Inquisitor Thomas See once you kinda get the knack of taking down gatekeepers they aren't so bad. they're powerful and certainly deadly but they can be dealt with.

[@SirUlrichVL]

Generally I'd agree but when Gatekeepers appear on Retaliation missions they can be a real pain in the ass when they use their big AOE move especially near the start when they are usually on the other side of the map. My favourite memory of a fight involving an Andromedon was when I had one of my low level/gear soldiers kite one all over the map whilst rest of my party dealt with the main mission I was on before they went and helped the kiting soldier finish it off. It was like watching a Benny Hill ending scene :D

[@MamuTVies]

Thanks, Nicolas Cage.

[@shkmru2]

My sniper takes him out twice lol

[@vincentgrimwood9051]

Yeah, this is the most annoying grineer unit in warframe.

[@martinez4205]

Yo los domino y luego los hackeó 😂🤩

[@infernapocalypse]

mind control.

[@johnc6158]

this thing made me quit the game

[@TapCat]

Very sorry to hear that, John. Based on the popularity of this guide compared to most of my "how to kill..." videos I can safely say that a lot of people struggle with Andromedons.