XCOM 2 Alien Hunters DLC releasing next week with new Ruler aliens, story-based mission, and more

It's hunt or be hunted in XCOM 2's Alien Hunters.

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2K and Firaxis Games have announced the second DLC pack for XCOM 2, called Alien Hunters, will be available on May 12.

Alien Hunters features a narrative-driven mission, new weapons and armor, a new Hunter’s Lodge facility within the Avenger, and three new Ruler alien units to face off against. The new Rulers, one of which is called the Viper King, offer a new challenge to XCOM 2 commanders. These Rulers will randomly show up within your campaign once a number of new narrative missions have been completed, and each of them will have their own unique behavior and tactics. If you’re unable to take these Rulers out within a certain amount of time, it will escape to fight another day.

To help combat the new Rulers, and any other alien foolish enough to cross paths with your squad, players can wield four new weapons, including the Bolt Caster, Hunter’s Axe, the ShadowKeeper pistol, and the Frost Bomb grenade. Here are each new weapons’ description in Alien Hunters:

  • Bolt Caster: a high damage single-shot weapon
  • Hunter’s Axe: a powerful new blade weapon  that can be thrown at enemies or used to dispatch foes at close range
  • ShadowKeeper Pistol: has the Shadowfall ability that is guaranteed to hit and will place its user in concealment if the enemy is killed
  • Frost Bomb Grenade: able to temporarily freeze targets

It should be noted these four new weapons are prototypes, so players will need to carry fallen comrades back to the Skyranger, or else they’ll lose these weapons forever.

For those who believe a good defense is the best offense, three new suits of armor can be obtained in Alien Hunters, each of which are created from the corpse of a Ruler alien. One of the new suits of armor, called the Icarus Suit, features powerful boosters that allows its wearer the ability to fly around the map.

Alien Hunters will also include a compatibility patch for XCOM 2, which includes authentication for the DLC, general bug fixes, balancing the single-player experience, performance optimizations and a rebalanced multiplayer experience for the base game.

XCOM 2’s Alien Hunters DLC will launch on May 12 for $9.99, although those who already own the Reinforcement Pack will receive it for free. 2K notes Reinforcement Pack should not purchase Alien Hunters separately as they will be charged for it if they do.

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