Let's be real for a second. Playing vanilla XCOM 2 after you've tasted the madness of the modding scene feels like playing checkers when you could be playing high-stakes, 4D chess in a thunderstorm. Most people who pick up the game today inevitably run into a wall where the strategy layer feels a bit... thin. That’s where Long War of the Chosen (LWOTC) comes in. It isn't just a mod. It’s a total overhaul that turns a 30-hour tactical romp into a 100-hour saga of desperate resistance, bureaucratic headaches, and the most satisfying tactical wins you’ll ever earn.
The history here is actually pretty wild. Pavonis Interactive—the team that originally made the Long War mod for the first XCOM—was actually commissioned by 2K to make launch mods for XCOM 2. But LWOTC as we know it today is a community-driven labor of love that merges the original "Long War 2" mechanics with the War of the Chosen expansion. It shouldn't work. It’s too big. It’s too complex. Yet, it’s basically the definitive version of the game if you actually want to feel like a guerrilla commander.
The Infiltration Headache (And Why It’s Great)
In the base game, you see a mission, you fly the Avenger there, and you shoot things. Simple. Long War of the Chosen looks at that and says, "Nah, that’s too easy."
Now, you have to manage infiltration.
When a mission pops up on your geoscape, you don't just go. You send a squad to sit in that region for several days. If you send a massive squad of ten heavily armed super-soldiers, the aliens are going to notice. Your infiltration percentage will be trash. You'll drop into a map where the "Extremely Light" enemy presence has turned into "Swarming," and suddenly you’re facing 40 ADVENT troopers with three guys and a wet paper bag for armor. It forces you to make actual choices. Do you send two stealthy shinobis to sneak in and hack a workstation? Or do you commit a full squad for a week, leaving your other territories undefended?
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The strategy layer becomes a game of spinning plates. You aren't just a combat lead; you're a logistics officer. You have to manage "Haven" resistance members, deciding who is gathering supplies, who is recruiting new blood, and who is acting as a mole-catcher to find ADVENT faceless spies hiding in your ranks. Honestly, if you don't have a spreadsheet—or at least a very messy notebook—you're probably going to lose your first campaign. That’s the charm.
Class Overhauls and the Toolbelt Meta
One of the biggest complaints about the standard game is that soldiers can feel a bit "samey" by the endgame. In Long War of the Chosen, the class system is blown wide apart. You get eight distinct classes right out of the gate, and that’s before you even get into the faction soldiers like Reapers or Templars.
- The Shinobi: Your scout, your blade in the dark, and your primary way of seeing the map without being seen.
- The Technical: They carry a gauntlet that doubles as a flamethrower and a rocket launcher. High risk, high "everything on this screen is now on fire" reward.
- The Gunner: Not just a guy with a big gun. They provide area suppression that actually matters because, in this mod, the AI is significantly smarter about flanking you.
The sheer volume of tactical options is staggering. You’ve got "Technical" classes that can burn down a whole cover line, and "Specialists" who are actually mandatory because of how much more frequently you’ll be dealing with robotic enemies and high-security hacks. You aren't just leveling up; you're building a toolbox.
Why Most Players Fail Their First Campaign
Most people treat LWOTC like a regular XCOM campaign. That is a death sentence. In the base game, you want to do every mission that appears. In Long War of the Chosen, if you try to do every mission, you will exhaust your roster, your infiltration times will slip, and the "Avatar Project" will finish before you’ve even researched plated armor.
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You have to learn to say no.
The game is designed to throw more at you than you can handle. It’s a simulation of a global insurgency. If a mission has a three-day expiration and you don't have a squad ready, let it go. Focus on the "Liberation" chain. This is a specific sequence of missions in a region that eventually allows you to kick ADVENT out entirely. Once a region is liberated, you get a massive boost to resources and a safe haven. But getting there? It’s a slog. It’s meant to be.
The Chosen are Actually Scary Now
In the vanilla expansion, the Chosen felt like Saturday morning cartoon villains. They showed up, said something edgy, got slapped around, and left. In LWOTC, they are tuned to be genuine threats. They interact with the new infiltration mechanics. They can stall your progress. They show up when you are already at your breaking point.
Because the mod increases squad sizes—you can often bring 8 to 10 soldiers on certain missions—the scale of the battles feels more like a small war than a police skirmish. When a Chosen drops into a fight where there are already 20+ enemies on the board, the tension is palpable. You will lose people. You will lose "Colonels" you've spent 40 hours leveling up. It hurts.
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Realism vs. Fun: The Balancing Act
Is it fair? Not always. But Long War of the Chosen isn't trying to be fair; it’s trying to be a simulation of an occupied Earth. The developers (and the community contributors who kept the project alive) understood that the "XCOM feel" comes from overcoming impossible odds.
One thing the mod does perfectly is the "Tech Tiers." In the base game, moving from Magnetic weapons to Plasma feels like a quick jump. Here, every research project is a massive investment of time and corpses. You will be fighting late-game enemies with mid-game gear because your scientists are still trying to figure out how to take apart a Sectopod without blowing up the lab. This creates a "mid-game" that actually feels substantial, rather than just a bridge to being overpowered.
How to Get Started Without Losing Your Mind
If you’re looking to dive in, don’t just grab it from the Steam Workshop and pray. Use the AML (XCOM 2 Alternative Mod Launcher). The standard 2K launcher is notorious for breaking mods, especially ones as heavy as this.
- Start on Rookie. Seriously. Don't let your ego get in the way. "Rookie" in Long War is roughly equivalent to "Legend" in the base game.
- Learn the "100% Infiltration" Rule. Never launch a mission at less than 100% unless you are an absolute god at the tactical layer or it's a desperate "0% supply raid" (which is basically a suicide mission for experienced players only).
- Manage Your Roster. You need at least 40 to 50 active soldiers. You'll be running multiple missions simultaneously while others are in the infirmary or infiltrating.
- Watch the Professionals. Look up guys like DerAva or Xwynns on YouTube. They have been playing versions of this mod for years. You will learn more in ten minutes of watching them manage the strategy layer than you will in five hours of failing on your own.
The complexity is the point. You're meant to feel overwhelmed. You're meant to feel like the underdog. When you finally see that "Region Liberated" screen for the first time, it provides a hit of dopamine that very few other strategy games can match.
Long War of the Chosen takes everything great about XCOM 2—the tension, the customization, the "99% chance to hit" misses—and scales it up to an epic proportions. It is the ultimate version of the "one more turn" syndrome. Just be prepared to lose your weekend. And your sleep schedule. And maybe your sanity.
Actionable Next Steps for Success:
- Download the Alternative Mod Launcher (AML): This is non-negotiable for stability.
- Focus on 'Find a Lead' Missions: These are your gateway to liberating regions. Without liberation, your economy will never scale fast enough to match the alien tech curve.
- Prioritize Scientists over Engineers early on: The tech tree in LWOTC is significantly longer; if you fall behind on weapons research, your soldiers' aim won't matter because their bullets will bounce off ADVENT'S new armor.
- Rotational Play: Set up three distinct squads (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie) and try to keep them balanced so you don't end up with one team of superstars and four teams of rookies who can't hit the broad side of a barn.