A collection of tips from JL's post in LW2 Strategy.

[deaconivory]

Tips

Overall
• Use the Archives in the Commanders Quarters as it contains helpful info.

• If you are lacking new recruits it's possible you are trying to go on every mission you detect -- that's a mistake. You will encounter more targets than you can handle; your job is to hit lightly defended ones while keeping a reserve for must-finish missions.

• If you are running out of Intel remember the main role of the Intel job is to generate missions -- and generate missions with LOTS of time to infiltrate, which are going to be much easier if you let an infiltration get to >100%. Early on, go on high extremely light or very light missions only, unless it's an emergency. Use the boost infiltration button when you can afford it. Pick up gear and perks that help with infiltration time (suppressors, chameleon vest, tradecraft perk are the biggies).

• If you are hitting missions where the Turn Timers feel extremely punishing, remember Officers have an ability, Intervention, that spends intel to increase the turn timer. So train an officer in the GTS (they do lots of other cool stuff too).

• On many missions, XCOM can request an emergency evacuation from the battlefield at the Commander's discretion. Once the Skyranger has been contacted, the soldier making the call will need to select a rendezvous point for the evacuation to occur. Doing so will reveal the squad if it is concealed. Once placed, the squad will need to move into the designated EVAC volume and request a rope out. Note that the Skyranger may take some time to arrive: if XCOM has many infiltrations active around the globe, has poorly infiltrated this particular mission, or has a large squad, expect to have to defend the evac zone until the Skyranger can arrive.

• Also remember that not every mission is going to be winnable, you will lose soldiers and missions, but through careful planning and smart choices you can win the war.

These are the new and changed tips that appear when loading a mission.

Tactical
o "When controlling a Shinobi, right click on an enemy to initiate your charging melee attack."
o "An increased Dodge stat can lead to \"graze\" shots, where only partial damage is applied."
o "Soldiers with the Phantom ability will begin every mission in concealment, even if the squad does not."
o "On higher difficulties, the enemy will sometimes get bonus actions if they patrol into you on their turn."
o "When assaulting an ADVENT regional HQ, take as large a squad as you can afford."
o "Frag and alien grenades thrown by soldiers lacking the \"Sapper\" or \"Combat Engineer\" perks will be unreliable in destroying cover. Try using a rocket."
o "Each utility item you equip reduces a soldier's mobility by one, so it may be advantageous to leave some of your utility slots empty for bonus movement."
o "Soldiers may equip one plating item and one protective vest. Plating grants ablative HP that can't be healed but isn't counted as a wound when lost."
o "Submachine guns lack the punch of other primary weapons, but they grant bonuses to both mobility and infiltration."
o "Any soldier may equip a pistol in a utility slot. Pistol perks are trained in the Advanced Warfare Center."
o "A Shinobi's slash attack takes only one action and does not end the Shinobi's turn."
o "The Combat Protocol and Arc Pulser perks are good early counters to ADVENT drones."
o "Enemy UFOs are extremely well-defended and require a powerful squad to take on."
o "Summoning the Skyranger for an evacuation now takes multiple turns. Be prepared to defend the evac point."

Strategy
o "Every month new scientists, engineers and veteran soldiers are available for recruitment at the Black Market."
o "Scanning at a Haven will significantly increase that Haven's chance of detecting missions."
o "Upon reaching the rank of sergeant, soldiers will have more extensive customization options."
o "Experimental projects in the Proving Grounds facility can unlock various items for construction."
o "Power relay facilities provide a large increase to power capacity when built atop a power coil."
o "Make sure to check back with the Black Market every month, as it will have new items for purchase and personnel available for recruitment."
o "Enemy bodies are only collected as loot if XCOM does not \"evac\" from the mission or have to leave the battle site immediately after the mission."
o "Elerium cores are valuable loot items, as they are required to create many specialized items."
o "Any timed loot on the map is recovered if you complete the mission before the timer expires, but only if XCOM does not \"evac\" from the mission or depart immediately after the battle."
o "To sabotage an alien facility and set back the aliens' Avatar project, you must first contact the region where the facility was built."
o "The Avatar project can be temporarily delayed, but it cannot be stopped. You are in a race against time."
o "The more Resistance personnel you set to the intel job, the higher chance you have of discovering a mission that has sufficient time left for you to infiltrate a large squad."
o "Attempting a mission before the squad is close to 100% infiltration can greatly increase the mission's difficulty."
o "High-ranking Specialists have access to an ability that will let them reprogram a MEC to work for the Resistance."
o "Liberating a region is a good way to build a supply of enemy corpses for research."
o "If a UFO is hunting the Avenger, it may be advantageous to recall a veteran squad from a mission to help defend XCOM's headquarters."
o "If you are successful on several missions in a region, ADVENT will relocate troops there, making your missions more difficult."
o "The Black Market now deals exclusively in supplies when buying and selling items."
o "Many technologies and items require additional science and engineering staff to unlock. The Basic Research and Engineering techs allow you to work around some of these restrictions."
o "Some missions are simply going to be too difficult for XCOM and should be ignored."
o "Contacting the Resistance in multiple regions will enable you to strike where ADVENT is weakest."
o "The aliens are pursuing the AVATAR project from the start of the campaign, but XCOM can only learn details by completing its objectives."