How to tell if a civilian is a Faceless

xcom-2

Faceless are dangerous to deal with, moreso when they are concealed as civilians. An outcome of a Dark Event is to have Faceless in missions as civilians, and it's known that even "fleeing" civilians can be Faceless. How do I detect these guys before its too late for my squad?

Best Answer

Some tricks I've learned so far:

  • Battle Scanners (can be built after ADVENT Trooper Autopsy) deployed in range of civilians will reveal a Faceless if they are one (and will force them to transform)
  • Specialist ability 'Scanning Protocol' will allow you to scan an area an reveal enemies and Faceless
  • Firing grenades at a civilian works as well; if you fire at one and DO NOT receive a Friendly Fire warning, it's safe to say the civilian is a Faceless unit (real civilians will always trigger a friendly fire warning)
    • Sidenote on firing grenades. When the FF warning comes up you have a choice to cancel your shot. If you don't get it, you will fire a grenade. Watch out if you are on Ironman as all actions are final.
  • On civilian rescue missions, ADVENT troops will kill civilians every turn. Civilians cannot take more than 3 damage or they will die. However, ADVENT AI will sometimes shoot a civilian that does not die (meaning it is a Faceless unit).
  • Faceless units will automatically reveal themselves if no other enemy troops are alive (ADVENT, sneks, robos, mutons, etc.)
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