XCOM 2 Adds Robotic Buddies In Shen's Last Gift DLC
Sword Rangers buffed too
Mechanical men have arrived in XCOM 2 [official site] with today's release of the DLC pack Shen's Last Gift. I'd expected the DLC would add cyborg MEC Troopers like those in XCOM: Enemy Within but nope, the potential new squadmates are proper robits. That's paid DLC but everyone can benefit from the new patch which also launched tonight. It brings performance improvements, bug fixes, and balance tweaks including buffing the sword-swinging side of the Ranger skill tree.
Shen's Last Gift adds a new mission to investigate a forgotten ADVENT facility, where Lily Shen will accompany your squad to poke at the robits. Then you'll get to keep 'em! They're a new class with new abilities, some of which seem borrowed from MEC troopers, such as jetboots and an almighty left hook. And they have friendly Johnny Five faces.
The DLC is £7.99/9,99€/$9.99 by itself on Steam or comes with the other two DLC packs in the season pass, which is currently down to £10.71/13,39€/$13.99 in the Steam summer sale.
To the patch!
"Blademaster grants +10 Aim to melee and Hunter's Instinct grants +15 to melee crit" are the big changes for stabby Rangers in June's update. I still often took one on missions even late in the game, as their ability to chase and cut down a single target from miles away could be really handy. I was less keen on then trying to ensure they lived. I was only playing on medium difficulty, mind - I can imagine they're a lot more risky at the top end.
I also like the change making psi powers ignore armour. I did enjoy PsiPip being a dick but wouldn't have objected to a buff against tougher enemies/people not foolish enough to carry grenades near her.
The patch also brings opens up a few extra parts of the game for mods to fiddle with. Do check the patch notes for full details on all this and more.
XCOM 2 itself is in the Steam sale too, with a 40% discount bringing it to £20.99/29,99€/$29.99.