Hello again folks! After a long break from the game and my prior guides I have returned to talk about Mutoids.

Everything in this guide is my own personal opinion based on my usage of the Mutoid solider type in a veteran difficulty campaign I've been playing where I've been trying out all the new content.

As far as I am aware, the Mutoid has access to the 7 classes in the basegame as well as 6 Pandoran "Classes". Basegame classes are unlocked through class research as normal, and Pandoran classes are unlocked when you autopsy the specified Pandoran.

The Mutoid can take 10 abilities, the first of which is their phoenix class. The only thing this determines is weapon proficiency. All abilities are available from all currently unlocked classes regardless of phoenix class selected at Mutoid creation.

HOWEVER...
You can't take whichever 4 from the phoenix pool and 5 from the Pandoran pool you want. You can only pick 1 per tier. So, if you take "Brawler", you can't take "Dash". If you take "Spider Drone Pack", you can't take "Ready For Action". Also, you can't take any of the tier 7 abilities, so no "Rapid Clearance" or "Adrenaline Rush".

This means that we are locked out of certain builds available to Human operatives. Never fear though, because there's builds these vat grown super soldiers can use that womb-born soldiers can't.

I'll be going by tier for each of the 10 slots, ranking the abilities based on which I think is best, and afterwards I'll lay out some build ideas I've had.

Let's get started!

Chosen when you build your Mutoid, the class determines which weapons you have proficiency with and nothing more, with a few exceptions. 1 is best, 7 is worst:

1. Infiltrator
2. Technician
3. Sniper
4. Heavy
5. Assault
6. Priest
7. Berserker

Infiltrator gives you a lot of utility in it's stealth boosting factor. You don't need to use conventional weaponry when you have some of the powers these guys have, so the added utility of being hard to find is the biggest advantage your class can give you.

Technician is next because of gun turrets. These guys make great gun-chuckers; mutagens are used to boost their stats so it's easy to have a handful who are fully maxed out before they even set foot on the field, which means they can carry 8 or so turrets with ease.

Sniper is a good choice because they can learn "Induce Frenzy" from the Siren autopsy, and that's a good power to have on the guy who doesn't mind hanging back.

Heavy gives you jetpack privileges. Never not useful.

Assault gives you some decent weapons in the AR and shotgun, but with these guys, thinking inside the box is the wrong way to go.

Priests just give viral weapons. Yawn. You can't mutate or augment these guys, so no priest heads.

Berserker just gives melee proficiency (just take brawler, it's a good pick regardless) and pistol (just be a sniper if you love pistols so much). Worst class. Hey, at least some things never change.

1. Brawler
2. Dash
3. Armor Break (Should be Armour Break)
4. Mind Control
5. Ambush (I think that's what it's called; the infiltrator one, you know the one)
6. Fast Use
7. Long Watch

Brawler pairs very nicely with a couple of Pandoran abilities these guys can use, and an extra weapon proficiency is only available to these guys through this ability.

Dash is just straight up good, but Brawler is better, and I'll explain why later.

Armor Break (god, it HURTS to type that) is a good skill when it's not tied to the Berserker's crappy weapons.

Mind Control is... okay. Like, it's not the best, but it's slim pickin's at this point.

Ambush is bad, but not useless.

Fast use is 1. Used for medkits (which don't work on these guys) 2. Requires robot arms (which just fully suck eggs) and Frenzy items (these guys can frenzy your whole team without costing you items).

Long watch is just flat out useless. You never overwatch with a species that gets more millage out of it's wacky box of tricks than it's normal firearms.

1. Quick Aim
2. Induce Panic
3. Remote Control
4. Holographic Decoy
5. War Cry
6. Close Quarters Evade
7. Return Fire

Quick Aim without needing to be a Sniper? Sign me the hell up. This thing is sometimes the whole reason why you multiclass as Sniper, so taking it while using whatever weapon you please opens up a whole box of possible options.

Induce Panic is awesome. Great to be able to use it on a non-priest. Not quite as potent without priest head's extra will, but hey, you can check how much will your target has before use.

Remote Control is perfect for a Gun-Chucker build.

Holo Decoy is a decent skill for distracting people. That's going to be a running theme with these guys.

War Cry is best used with Jet Jump. If you aren't in the thick of it, it's not going to do much for you.

Close Quarters Evade isn't bad, it's just not as good as the other options.

Return Fire isn't going to come up often enough to be worth it. Ideally you want these guys to be sneaky and/or very far from the front.

1. Ready For Action
2. Bloodlust
3. Boom Burst
4. The priest one, whatever it's called, I forget
5. Master Marksman
6. Spider Drone Pack
7. The most worthless, useless, pointless skill in the entire game. (Technician 5)

Ready For Action is awesome. Free inventory and reloading, when combined with Quick Aim AND whatever weapon you want let's you crossbow or PDW for FREE, over and over again for the low low price of 3 will a shot, and you don't have to worry about spending points on reloading!

Bloodlust rocks. More damage and movement speed is really good all the time, and to have it liberated from the crappy Berserker class is just the ticket. These guys only heal when you decide they will, so no need to worry about suddenly losing your damage buff when a friendly haven's defence team "does you a solid"...

Boom Burst is a bad skill, but not with these guys it's not! They get the option to chuck worms into the fray like shotputs, and this lets them lob 4 instead of 2 each turn. Also you can use mounted weapons if you're a heavy, so, that's nice. It's mostly for the worms though.

The priest one is passive, and passive abilities are always a nice thing to have in your back pocket. I forget what it does, but hey, it does somethin'.

Master Marksman is pretty good. Kinda a sniper thing, really, but hey, these guys can be half decent snipers, if it's your pleasure.

Spider Drone Pack is tough. You have to be an infiltrator to really want to carry a S.D.P., and even then you really want Ready For Action so you can double shot it in one turn without a buddy taking your gun, reloading it for you and then giving it back. It's good, it's just not good HERE.

We do not speak of this ability in my house.

1. Assault's 6th
2. Ignore Pain
3. Remote Deployment
4. The priest one
5. Weak Spot
6. Vanish
7. Inspire

I can't remember what they named this one now, but it's the assault one. Being able to pass AP around is never not good.

Ignore Pain is a solid passive. Being able to block mind control on a species that can't augment their heads is pretty helpful, as is not having to worry about reduced speed or not being able to use two handed weapons.

Remote Deployment is critical to the Gun Chucker build and useless outside of that context. Gun Chucker is pretty good, but you wouldn't want EVERY Mutoid to be one.

The other priest passive is pretty good as far as I can recall. It's a passive, the worst it can do is nothing.

Weak Spot is best used on snipers. It's not useless, but other choices out compete it for Mutoids.

Vanish is kinda bad, imo. I don't ever really use it, but hey, it could help.

Inspire is best on units that get loads of kills. These guys are best suited to serve as cheerleaders and support units, helping out your Humans and Vehicles. A good ability, just not for a Mutoid.

1. Jump (Arthron)
2. Immune To Goo (Scylla)
3. Paralyse Limb (Acheron)
4. Double Perception (Triton)
5. Psychic Scream (Siren)
6. Stomp (Chiron)

Jump lets you move up 1 level without needing ladders. It's a nice basic ability to have on units who like moving through back paths and staying up high, which fits most of these guys like a glove.

Immune To Goo lets you move through goo. Which, like, yeah, it's nice to not have to throw a grenade at yourself or wait for the goo to melt away.

Paralyse Limb is a ranged ability that disables an enemy limb for 1 turn at the cost of 1 AP and three Will points. Too high a price for too little a payoff if you ask me. Just break the arm or head if it matters that much. Still, it has some uses late game against the Scylla.

Double Perception is nice. Kinda middle of the road, though.

Psychic Scream is the first unlock from the Siren for a reason. It's not very potent for the price and limitations.

Stomp sucks. 2 AP for a really close quarters attack that doesn't do a lick of damage. It's worse than the other options.

1. Launch Fireworm (Chiron)
2. Slashing Strike (Siren)
3. Fire Resistant (Arthron)
4. Pepper Cloud (Acheron)
5. Goo Spit (Scylla)
6. Silent Echo (Triton)

Launch FIreworm is BANANAS. Satan's anus, you can throw these things so dang far! They are friendlies, so they recruit allies in haven defence missions even when they land. They distract enemies, they can scout out large parts of the map very easily due to the insane range... and all this for just 2 AP with no ammo limit. Also, it just looks absolutely hilarious when you see a bipedal humanoid huck a worm like as far as a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ catapult.

Slashing strike does high melee damage (80 plus 20 bleed if it damages, which it almost always will) for 1 AP. It also looks stupid. You just flat out karate chop a dude. It's amazing.

Fire Resistant is okay. Fire can REALLY ♥♥♥♥ up a species that can't manually heal, so being able to mitigate that risk is sometimes worth considering.

Pepper cloud is an AOE accuracy penalty. 50% worse in 5 tiles around the user for 1 AP and 2 will for 1 turn. The range is so low that odds are good they'll just end up hitting you anyway.

Goo Spit has a similar problem. It's as far as you can spit, and half the Pandorans are just straight up immune to goo anyway.

Silent Echo is... okay, show of hands: Who here has ever ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ cared about being silent? Like, honestly, if you hit them they'll know something's up anyway, so why bother? A waste of a skill.

1. Syphon Attack (Triton)
2. Launch Poisonworm (Chiron)
3. Poison Resistance (Arthron)
4. Inject Virus (Siren)
5. Daze Immunity (Scylla)
6. Confusion Cloud (Acheron)

Syphon Attack deals 50 damage for 2 AP at melee range. It sounds like it's a terrible pick... until you realise it's one of the only ways these units can heal themselves in battle. You heal for the amount of damage the target receives, including armour reduction and excluding overkill damage. Take Brawler to add 25 damage, because you need to heal somehow. Accidents happen; be prepared.

Launch Poisonworm is worse than launch fireworm, but only because the worm itself is less usefull. It's still everything that the three worm launch abilities is in terms of scouting, distracting and ammo free damage. It's just the worst of the three.

Poison resistance isn't as good as the first two, but it's better than the other three. Half damage from poison is good on a class that can't heal.

Inject Virus? Never used it. Melee virus? man, just use Scion Of Sharur if you want melee virus that bad. You should take Brawler anyway, so you'd have the proficiency. Syphon is self healing, this ain't.

Daze Immunity doesn't come up more often than healing damage.

Confusion Cloud reduces enemy speed in an AOE around the user. News flash numbskull: if you're close enough to hit them, THEY'RE close enough that they'll just shoot you 80% of the time anyway. Take Syphon for the healing; you'll need it WAY more often than this.

1. Launch Acidworm (Chiron)
2. Cure Spray (Acheron)
3. Spit Acid (Siren)
4. Sonic Blast (Scylla)
5. Spit Poison (Arthron)
6. Pain Chameleon (Triton)

Launch Acidworm is either the best or second best Launch worm ability, depending on who you're fighting. All of the launch worm abilities are bonkers though, so hey, it's as good a pick as any.

Cure spray basically removes almost every kind of statues effect from a friendly you can fire it at. Bleed, poison, paralysis, dazed, (doesn't restore lost AP though) strained, (don't know what the ♥♥♥♥ that means but whatever) infected and slowed. Nice to have in your back pocket. You never know when you'll need to detox a buddy. Just don't forget that you have it, like I always do.

Spit Acid has a poor range but a strong effect. It's... okay.

Sonic blast is a skill I've never used myself, but hey, it looks okay. Trouble is you kinda get it too late cause it's attached to the Scylla.

Spit Poison is worse than Spit Acid, and MUCH worse than Launch Acidworm. Give it a miss.

Pain Chameleon. You probably didn't expect to see this one ranked as the worst, did you? Well, it's because it's involuntary. You move out of cover, or through raging flames, or into melee range, or out of your aiming angle... and for what? Being very slightly harder to hit briefly? It's actively detrimental to have this one.

1. Instil Frenzy (Siren)
2. Regeneration (Triton)
3. Mind Control Immunity (Scylla)
4. Resurrect (Acheron)
5. Virus Resistant (Arthron)
6. Launch Goo Bomb (Chrion)

Instil Frenzy is now and has forever been kickass. +50% movement speed and panic immunity for 3 turns for the whole dang team except the user? Hell yeah! Now you don't need a Priest to use it anymore, the Mutoid can become a staple solider type of it's own right JUST BECAUSE it has this one ability.

Regeneration heals you very slightly and mends broken limbs. It's strong... but not as strong as Instil Frenzy.

Mind Control Immunity is a decent passive, but you can get it from Ignore Pain... and then ALSO get Instil Frenzy.

Resurrect turns a dead human into an Arthron or Triton. It's good... but not as good as Instil Frenzy.

Virus resistant halves incoming virus damage. I just... why? Why is THIS the final Arthron power? Anyway, it doesn't hold a candle to Instil Frenzy.

Launch Goo Bomb. Sigh. I was so excited to try this out. Then I learned that most Pandorans are immune to goo. Also, I learned that Mutoids can learn ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ INSTIL FRENZY! Why would you EVER take ANYTHING ELSE?! IT'S THE BEST ABILITY IN THE ENTIRE GAME!

"The Trickster"

Sniper, Brawler, Induce Panic, That Priest Passive, Onslaught (That's what it was called!)
Disable Limb, Launch Fireworm, Syphon Attack, Cure Spray, Instil Frenzy.

These jacks of all trades have a bag of tricks that they use to support other more combat oriented soldiers. Whether they're boosting speed, passing their AP to melee types, healing statues effects, or lobbing worms halfway to Timbuktu for all manner of reasons, these crafty prats have an answer for everything. Stay at range? Say hello to my little friends. Close quarters? Prepare to feel my vampiric karate chop! Need some damage? I have a sniper rifle too!




"The Mutoid Gun-Chucker"

Technician, Brawler, Remote Control, Ready For Action, Remote Deployment
Jump, Slashing Strike, Syphon Attack, Launch Acidworm, Instil Frenzy

With a full backpack's worth of gun turrets, these guys are the masters of battlefield deployment. They need not carry a PDW, for they have the power to deploy far greater weaponry for ranged combat, and if an enemy draws close, they have two melee options, one for damage and one for healing. Acidworms rain down from the heavens for long distance scouting and distraction tactics. A fun option.




"The Wormlord"

Infiltrator, Brawler, Holographic Decoy, Boom Burst, Ignore Pain
Jump, Launch Fireworm, Syphon Attack, Launch Acidworm, Instil Frenzy

With a full stealth suit (minus the hat of course), these shadows huck whatever worm you need (except poisonworms) like they're going out of fashion. Staying far away and keeping enemies distracted, the Syphon Attack is really more of a "just incase you need to heal" type thing. It's really quite odd that the worms are not ammo capped, AND don't cost will points, AND have such a crazy range. It might need to get nerfed, honestly.




"The Overdose"

Infiltrator, Brawler, Quick Aim, Ready For Action, Ignore Pain
Jump, Launch Fireworm, Syphon Attack, Cure Spray, Instil Frenzy

Wielding the Synedrion poison crossbow comes a combo no mere Human can perform. Quick Aim + Ready For Action + Crossbow proficiency yields a class that can fill a target with so much ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ poison in one turn. Just fill you backpack with spare ammo and let it rip. You also have worms, stealth, and Frenzy for when you run out, as well as cure spray and self healing. Only trouble is by the time you get the poison crossbow, these guys aren't the highest performing units around, but hey, they're fun!




"The Kungfu Master"

Heavy, Brawler, Close Quarters Combat, Bloodlust, Ignore Pain
Jump, Slashing Strike, Syphon Attack, Launch Acidworm, Regeneration

Utilising a Jet Jump originally meant you were stuck bashing with your weapon, at least in the early game. With Slashing Strike, that goes out the window. 120 Damage and bleed for 1 AP pairs nicely with Jet Jump. Regen and Ignore Pain plus heavy armour and Syphon Attack make this unit very durable for long engagements, but the true draw is just how dang funny they look karate chopping their way through hordes of mutant crab monsters. Heavy Guns are an option, but honestly, you could send these guys in with just "the gun show" and they'd still be able to do some WORK. Not the most optimal, but very, very fun.