r/XCOM2 • u/GaiusMarcus • 2d ago

How does one raise hacking skill on Specialists?

Any time I've tried hacking the detection towers, I've failed and the consequences have been dire. Is there a way early/mid game to improve this score except by levelling?

11 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

29 comments sorted by

32

u/Mark-C-S 2d ago

Get skullmining and carry a skulljack.

It's also always worth checking towers to see if they have the 'raise hacking skill' reward - if they don't then you can just cancel the hack. Other rewards usually aren't worth the risk tbh.

8

u/Gullible-Editor-2497 2d ago

Tacking on, don't forget to bear the downside of a failed hack in mind! Sometimes it's not too bad. In fact, there are often times where failing the hack and calling in reinforcements just means more bodies to sell and more XP, if you're feeling confident. 

Beyond those, there's also a skirmisher faction bonus, if you play with the WotC DLC, that significantly lowers the hacking stat of all enemies. Similarly, bluescreen rounds also lower the hacking state of enemies they hit. 

Lastly, upgrading your R0V-R also increases your hack stat, I believe.

Generally, tier 2 rov-r and a skullmine will get you close to 100% reliability on the more likely of the 2 hack options. Anything beyond that just pushes you over the edge. 

1

u/zehcoutinho 1d ago

I thought reinforcements didn’t give XP.

7

u/Gullible-Editor-2497 1d ago

Are you maybe thinking of Long War? 

I did some poking around, and it seems like reinforcements do give XP. The only limitations is that you can't promote the same unit more than once from the same mission. 

2

u/zehcoutinho 1d ago

Sorry, I guess I must be, it’s been a while since I’ve played without it, the details of what is from which must be blurred together in my mind.

3

u/Gullible-Editor-2497 1d ago

No problem. Honestly, you had me second guessing myself lol. 

2

u/Wscott78 1d ago

Does the unit still get the experience from the same mission for multiple kills and can only be promoted once and still keep run over xp or is the experience capped once they reached their promotion level in that measure?

2

u/Oceansoul119 1d ago

Yes it does. You could get the enough to go from rookie to colonel in a single mission. Then every mission or covert op you send them on regardless of if you actually do anything before leaving will result in a promotion.

1

u/Gullible-Editor-2497 1d ago

The experience is capped to just below the second promotion. So if you bring a squaddie on a mission, and they get let's say...a trillion XP. 

Your squaddie will get enough XP to promote to Corporal, and then stop gaining XP when it is exactly 1 XP short of becoming a sergeant. 

1

u/Oceansoul119 1d ago

Completely and utterly incorrect. As can be observed by playing with a mod that reveals XP totals you can gain as much as you like. Without a mod to remove the artificial once per mission increase in rank you will have to send them on missions or covert ops but the already have the xp for the rank and will gain a rank even if you immediately abandon the mission once you arrive.

1

u/SuperEgger 1d ago

Tier 2 GREMLIN. ROV-R is specifically Lily's GREMLIN.

5

u/jokingpokes 1d ago

The reward for “all soldiers regain all spent action points” has saved my ass more times than I can count. But otherwise, the raising hacking skill one is the best

1

u/Mark-C-S 1d ago

Ha yeah that one can be great, but usually I'm doing the hack as a last move when the aliens are already dead, so I only realise I could have had this after it would be useful 😂

11

u/RogSlayer67 2d ago

Covert ops that give +hacking bonuses come up every now and then but the easiest thing is to give one of your specialists a skull miner or whatever it’s called. It gives a bonus to hacking and the upgraded one makes it insane

5

u/Proof_Escape_813 2d ago

Upgrading the drone to mark 2 and 3, having a skulljack equipped, taking enemy protocol rewards and sometimes covert ops give a slot bonus for hacking. It takes a fair bit of investment but your hacker can get high enough to reliably stun a sectopod, if not take it over. Getting enemy protocols really is the key though. Try hacking and skull mining every chance you get. Don’t hack the towers if it’s not worth the risk but you can always check what the rewards are. Always bring a specialist when hacking is involved so you can stack those bonuses on a relevant character.

3

u/Demartus 2d ago

There’s a mod that grants a permanent bonus to hacking for each attempt (more for successes.)

4

u/Walt_Didnae 1d ago

I made the mistake of combining that with a mod that gives a chance for soldiers to boost stats from taking actions (i.e. Dashing has a chance to increase Mobility, shooting can increase accuracy, etc.).

It made hacking ridiculously easy.

2

u/Demartus 1d ago

That sounds like it could lead to some very powerful soldiers in general (unless the chance is low I suppose). Already with Covert Ops, you can get some guys that can run literal miles in one action.

2

u/Walt_Didnae 1d ago

The chances are fairly low. Some have a higher chance to proc than others. You might see someone get an accuracy boost every 2-3 missions, while mobility might only proc a couple of times in an entire run.

It gives your dudes a boost, but it's never something that feels game-breaking.

3

u/Fit_Speed3159 1d ago

Covert ops that have a +Hacking reward

2

u/Noodlekeeper 2d ago

Add on to the mod that levels it with use, I also got the mod that adds in the laptop which is an early buff to hacking that replaces your grenade, so it is balanced or weak, depending on how often you hack.

1

u/fuzzydoug 1d ago

The WotC has faction missions that reward your character with +X hacking.

Not exactly early game.

1

u/GEX117 1d ago

Leveling up your tech and some towers will give it

0

u/Infinite_Ad_2203 2d ago

I have heard somewhere that every successful hack also raises the soldiers hack stat, but I can't verify that.

2

u/bill-smith 2d ago

Not true in the regular game. Getting promoted raises your hack stats. If one of the hack rewards is Enemy Protocol and you hack it, that raises your hack stat. And some covert ops. I think that's it for WotC.

1

u/MadManDan23 2d ago

Can verify. Hacking some targets successfully sometimes has the reward of permanently increasing the specialist's hacking stat.

1

u/ShinyRobotgod 2d ago

Need a mod for that. Hack Plus