Cyberdisc

A Cyberdisc is an enemy in XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

Description

Little is known about Cyberdiscs; they may be robotic creations or living bio-mechanical organisms. They are about the size of a small car, and can transform between two forms: a flat, saucer-like form and a spider-like assault form. It is rare to see multiple Cyberdiscs together, though they are frequently accompanied by Drones.

The appearance of a Cyberdisc can be very unsettling for the unprepared player. When a squad lacks firepower such as Beam Weapons, it can be difficult to bring a Cyberdisc down not only because of its high hit points, but also due to Drones repairing the Cyberdisc. Moreover, the Cyberdisc utilizes a very powerful beam weapon that will one-shot soldiers without decent armor.

Deployment

Cyberdiscs first appear during the fourth month (June), or August if the "Marathon" Second Wave option is enabled. There is a limit of one per mission for the first month only (does not apply to Impossible difficulty). Their chance of being deployed declines over the following two months (Marathon: from October to December) as new enemy units are introduced.

It is certain that Cyberdisc will be deployed against the player during the Gangplank mission if the Slingshot DLC is enabled.

Abilities

Ability	Description
Airborne	Flying units can bypass ground obstacles. They can remain in flight if they have sufficient fuel.
Bombard	Throw or launch grenades over exceptionally long distances.
Death Blossom	Project an intense energy field from closed position, damaging all nearby enemies. 3 turn cooldown.

Traits

Trait	Description
Hardened	Reduces the chance of suffering a critical hit by 60%. (The Cyberdisc only benefits from this trait while in its closed form)
Stun Immune	This unit cannot be stunned with the Arc Thrower; taking a live specimen is not possible.

Capturing

Cannot be captured.

Research

Cyberdisc Autopsy - Unlocks UFO Tracking (Boost) production

Tactics

While in disc-form, the Cyberdisc is much harder to hit, but you can still deal damage to it (half damage from ballistics). A recommended tactic is to damage it from afar, before it can close in on your squad.
If a Cyberdisc is sufficiently damaged, it will attempt to retreat to let any Drones nearby to repair it, you can prevent it from moving by keeping it suppressed.
Cyberdiscs have a special close-range area-of-effect attack called "Death Blossom" that can wipe out entire squads.
Although they appear to be cumbersome in motion, Cyberdiscs have absurdly high mobility, allowing it to traverse as much as half the entire map in one turn. Because of this ability, Cyberdiscs can easily move from far away cover and fire upon a flanked soldier.
Since a Cyberdisc and its accompanying Drones usually group together, using a Rocket Launcher/Blaster Launcher can effectively kill the Drones and deal damage to the Cyberdisc with a single shot; HEAT Ammo will further increase the rocket's damage against both unit types.
Cyberdiscs have an Alien Grenade and which they tend to use against grouped up soldiers. If allowed to do so, any destructible cover the squad was behind will be leveled, allowing the accompanying Drones and other enemies to fire upon the weakened and coverless soldiers.
When a Cyberdisc is destroyed, it will self destruct, dealing damage equal to a car exploding (in terms of radius and damage) to anything in the blast radius. This explosion can take care of any surviving Drones follow the Cyberdisc too closely.
With the appropriate upgrades, an Assault could easily total a Cyberdisc in one fell swoop:
- After a Cyberdisc has attacked, it will remain in its assault (open) mode
- Using Run & Gun if necessary, the Assault brings himself/herself within optimal firing range (2-4 tiles)
  - If the Assault has reached Colonel rank, he/she may have Killer Instinct, which confers +50% critical hit chance upon activating Run & Gun
- Aggression and Close and Personal at this point will bolster the Assault's chance for critical hits given nearby enemy Drones and proximity to the Cyberdisc, respectively
  - The Cyberdisc will already be more susceptible to critical hits in its assault mode
- Bring 'Em On will add even more critical hit damage given nearby enemy Drones
- The Assault uses Rapid Fire to fire twice upon the Cyberdisc
  - With all the previously mentioned bonuses and promotions, the Assault should receive a very high chance of a critical hit at the very least.
- The first shot becomes a critical hit, where the Cyberdisc will retreat into its shell and deploy its Hardened skill, but have already lost a great deal of health
- The second shot also has a high critical chance, but will deal the killing blow regardless
  - If the first shot was miraculously not a critical hit, the second shot, if critical, will finish the job
  - Critical hit damage is variable, but the player should at least have a Scatter Laser equipped at this point in the game, which is sufficient to take out the Cyberdisc
The Cyberdisc has the Stun Immune trait and therefore cannot be stunned by the Arc Thrower (Drone Capture is designed to work specifically on Drones only).
Because of its Hardened trait while closed, Cyberdiscs are very hard to score critical hits against; however a Heavy soldier with the HEAT Ammo ability can do sufficient damage to negate the need for a critical hit.
In XCOM: Enemy Within, Cyberdiscs will enter Overwatch when spotted or may even take an automatic reaction shot once the spotting unit has finished moving.

Multiplayer

Cyberdiscs cost 5500 points.

Despite their seemingly defensive nature, Cyberdiscs are relatively fragile compared to other units with the same cost. Their strength lies in their high damage potential, their mobility, and their ability to throw grenades farther than most other units. Since they cannot benefit from cover, don't let yourself get tricked into a fight with enemies who are behind cover. Keep your Cyberdisc fully hidden behind walls and use it to ambush enemy scouts or close-range fighters. It may be tempting, but never fly your Cyberdisc over an obstacle without scouting it first: Snipers on Overwatch are the bane of the Cyberdisc and will make short work of it.

It is very important that you keep the Cyberdisc in "closed" form at all times, due to the hardened trait only works in closed form as well as being able to use the death blossom ability quickly if a opportunity presents.

The Cyberdiscs can be a problem simply moving it around, while it does move very far, it moves very slowly whereas being able to eat up a lot of time.

Good Against : Scouting units (Sectoid, Floater), units that don't receive cover bonuses (MEC Trooper , Mechtoid)

Bad Against : Snipers, units on Overwatch.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown Enemies
Aliens	Berserker • Chryssalid • Cyberdisc • Drone • Ethereal (Uber) • Floater (Heavy) • Mechtoid Muton (Elite) • Outsider • Sectoid (Commander) • Sectopod • Seeker • Thin Man • Zombie
EXALT	EXALT Heavy (Elite) • EXALT Medic (Elite) • EXALT Operative (Elite) • EXALT Sniper (Elite)

Cyberdisc

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