Aliens: Fireteam Elite throws you into the fray without much basic training. Of course, pointing guns at things and shooting is the heart of the game, but there are a few tips and tricks that can ease your time in the game's 12-mission campaign and horde mode.
This guide goes over some things I wish I had known at the start of Aliens: Fireteam Elite.
Experiment early with classes and loadout kits
There are five classes in Fireteam Elite: Gunner, Demolisher, Technician, Doc, and Recon. Each loadout kit, as it's called, has its own set of experience levels that increase as you use them and unlock class-specific base perks and modifiers.
But using any kit increases your overall player level, which adds a bit to your combat level. So even if you experience a new class, you improve your character level and your ability to take on more difficult missions.
If you're playing solo, the Gunner and Demolisher are by far the best classes to start with.
The Gunner's Overclock ability "increases the rate of fire for you and nearby allies", as well as your reload speed, making it the perfect ability for taking down armored enemies like Warriors. The Frag Grenade is great for clearing groups of swarms. You can't go wrong with the shotgun either.
The Demolisher's Micro Rockets ability "launches three rockets that explode on impact, creating a large shockwave that damages and stumbles your enemies," another great choice for crowd control. Blastwave "fires a concussive blast around you, damaging enemies and knocking them back", which is great when swarms overwhelm you. Finally, the L56A3 Smartgun tracks enemies, acting as an auto-aim.
Oh, and don't underestimate the power of guns.
What is the combat rating?
The combat rating is an indication of your character's power. It is mostly related to weapon attachments, perks, and modifiers. Each campaign section and difficulty has a recommended combat rating level, with later campaign levels and higher difficulties, of course, requiring higher combat ratings.
You can see each recommended battle level in yellow text to the right of the objective text for each level, and you can see your current battle level in the lower right corner of the loading screen.
All attachments have a combat value of 20; the only real difference in attachments is their modifiers. Perks and modifiers have combat values between 10 and 20.
By the end of the campaign, you'll easily have a combat rating over 500 if you focus on a single class, and you can move leveled weapons between classes to quickly level other loadout kits.
Use Challenge Cards
Challenge Cards add Campaign Mission-specific modifiers (cannot be used in Horde Mode). You can activate/deactivate them after choosing a mission by clicking on the box to the right of the difficulty selection box. You can then choose a card after joining the queue by choosing the green "Select Challenge Card" box under your character.
Challenge cards increase XP or currency, although some may offer a random bonus reward. They come in three rarities – Uncommon (green), Rare (blue) and Exotic (purple) – and can be obtained from hidden caches or in sets of three in the “Special Stock” section of the Armory for 150 Rep Script.
You have a limited number of challenge cards at any given time, and you can see how many you have by highlighting the cards and looking in the lower right corner of the card.
Take advantage of tactical opportunities
You'll get XP, Requisition Credits, and Rep Certificates for completing missions, but you can supplement this with Tactical Opportunities. While these Daily and Weekly Challenges don't give you XP, they do give you RC and RS, as well as an Opportunity Pack, which usually includes a Challenge Card.
Most of these challenges require you to kill a certain number of enemies or complete campaign missions with a certain class. You can find them in the Campaigns menu by clicking on the blue “Tactical Opportunities” banner in the lower left corner.
How Perks and Modifiers Work
There are two types of perks and modifiers: class-specific and general. Specific classes are in green, while general/universal values are in blue. You can access your loadout kit perks by clicking the box below your CQW (secondary) weapon slot in the loadout screen.
Your skill tree grid is divided into octagonal nodes. Some sections are locked behind the Loadout Kit levels, which you level up using the Loadout Kit; each locked section tells you at what level it unlocks.
Each advantage and modifier occupies a certain number of nodes in a square or in a line. Certain perks and modifiers can only be attached to certain abilities, indicated by white lines extending from the ability when choosing the perk or modifier.
Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, some perks and modifiers unlocked in one class can be used for other classes, even if they have a loadout kit name attached to them. For example, the base Demolisher Rifle Training perk can be used for any class, while the Marksman's CQW proficiency modifier can also be used universally.
Watch for sneak attacks (and listen for clues)
Almost every level in Aliens: Fireteam Elite has an enemy called Prowler. It lurks around corners and on ceilings, lunging at you for a grappling hook attack if you're not careful. They also don't appear on the scanner before attacking. Sometimes you can see them waiting, other times not. On higher difficulties, a grappling hook attack can land you a hit.
If you listen carefully, however, your character will sometimes warn you that a walker is nearby. Listen to “Do you hear that? », « Those nearby », « Prowler » and « Ambush ».
On larger swarm attacks, warriors will move in and out of the melee to attack you randomly, but things are often so frantic that I couldn't hear any warnings or beeps, although there may be some to have.
Don't take a break
Aliens: Fireteam Elite does not pause the action when you open the menu during gameplay. This is especially important if you are playing solo with AI bots, because even if you cleared a room, the game constantly generates ads to get you going, and the AI won't kill them if you don't shoot first.
Difficulty is campaign-wide
Each campaign mission allows you to change the difficulty setting before launching it. While it may seem like the difficulty is tied to a single mission, the difficulty is actually tied to the entire campaign.
Since difficulty increases the recommended combat level for each mission, be sure to check each mission's difficulty setting before starting it if you're having trouble, especially if you've already changed it.
Special ammunition is tied to weapons
As you play, you'll get special ammo consumables that grant fire or electric damage to your bullets. It's important to know that these consumables are tied to the weapon you have equipped when you select them in your consumables window.
Each Special Ammo consumable "refills 25% of your current weapon's ammo". You cannot switch back to normal ammo until you have used all special ammo.
Throw or change weapon to cancel reload
Sometimes you can reload a partial mag just when a Xeno charges at you or enemies come out of a side room. Rolling and switching weapons cancels your reload animation, giving you the option to escape or kill/damage whatever comes your way.
This is a good tactic for weapons like shotguns, which reload one bullet at a time.
Each weapon has its own advantages
Each weapon has four perks that you can unlock by using it in battle. The ranking system goes from 1 to 4 stars and each weapon starts out without a star. Whether you complete the mission or die, you gain Weapon XP for each rank at the end of each mission.
These benefits range from reduced reload time to increased stability. Many 4-star tier perks grant a stacking buff, such as the M41A2's buff that increases stability accuracy by 0,5% on hit, which stacks 10 times and resets when you reload.
You will also get two trophies/achievements for leveling up weapons:
- A personal friend of mine: level a weapon to four stars
- All My Personal Friends: Tier 30 Four-Star Weapons
If you're aiming for those trophies/achievements, it's best to focus on two weapons at once and then switch.
You can see the perks of any weapon by selecting the weapon in your inventory (or loading screen) and looking in the lower left corner. A weapon's current XP and rank can be found under the weapon image in either menu.
Keep Aid Kits And Heal With Low Health
Your character has 1 hit points regardless of which loadout kit you choose; the number is tied to your character's overall level.
In both campaign mode and horde mode, you start with 1 aid kit. Each large encounter area (where it says "Prepare for battle") will have 1 aid kit to pick up during campaign missions, usually next to the ammo crate. In Horde Mode, Aid Kits can be found on the ground or dropped by enemies.
Each aid kit restores around 1 HP (sometimes it's 250 for some reason). Even though it's dangerous, you should ideally wait until your health is around 1 before using a medkit to maximize its use.
For what it's worth, revives give you 750 HP.
Anti-spam turrets (machine guns)
Turrets are great for creating areas of destruction, especially when playing solo with bots, and should be used in every major encounter. Some fire generic bullets, while others fire incendiary or electrified shells. They also come in two rarities: normal and hardened. Both explode in an area of effect when they run out of bullets, though the hardened variety has armor.
Machine guns can be placed high on a railing or crates to also protect them from melee attacks, so take advantage of the elevation as much as possible.
Turrets can be looted from regular caches (beige) found near ammo resupply crates and from hidden caches (red) in any mission. They can also be purchased from the Armory through the Requisition Shop for 200 Requisition Credits (Regular Machine Gun) and 400 Requisition Credits (Hard Shock/Incendiary Machine Gun).
The Technician/Loader class kit also starts with the sentry turret ability.
Hopefully the tips and tricks in this guide will help you survive longer and level up faster. Do you have any tips that haven't been covered here? Let us know in the comments below!
