How to Maximize Base Radar Coverage and Income in Xenonauts

1. Game Overview

Xenonauts is a modern spiritual successor to the original X-COM series, blending deep strategic management on a global scale with tense, destructible turn-based ground combat on 1970s-era battlefields. As commander of the secretive Xenonauts organization, you must intercept UFOs, deploy combat squads across diverse environments, research alien technology, and defend Earth from an encroaching extraterrestrial threat. The game delivers a rich simulation experience, featuring emergent mission design, a layered research tree, and persistent soldiers, offering both nostalgia and nuanced tactical depth for fans of classic strategy

• Developer & Publisher: Goldhawk Interactive
• Release Dates: June 6, 2014 (1.0), Early Access from 2012
• Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
• Genre: Turn-based strategy & tactics
• Engine: Unity
• Core Loop: Manage global defense → base building and research → tactical ground combat → tech progression

Note: Community mods and balance patches are available on Steam Workshop to refine late-game difficulty.

2. Geoscape & Strategic Layer

The geoscape is where the strategic conflict unfolds. It allows you to monitor UFO activity, assign interceptors, manage global bases, and respond to alien incursions and terror missions. Success in intercepting UFOs directly influences funding from regions; maintaining broad radar coverage and rapid response ensures stable income and prevents regional panic.

Key Mechanics:

1. UFO Detection & Radar: Radar arrays at bases detect incoming UFOs. Building multiple radars significantly increases coverage radius for each base.
2. Interceptor Assignment: Interceptors, including Condors and Foxtrots, are stationed at regional bases and scrambled from the geoscape to intercept UFOs as they appear.
3. Terror Missions & Funding Impact: Failing to intercept UFOs often leads to terror missions or other incidents. These events increase regional panic, lower funding, and can ultimately result in losing the region entirely.
4. Funding from Regions: The game includes ten funding regions that contribute monthly income. Protecting these regions preserves funding, while high panic levels (above 50% or 75%) result in funding reductions of 25% or 50%, respectively

3. Air Combat & Interceptor Tactics

Air combat in Xenonauts takes place in a destructible real-time 3-vs-3 arena, where fuel, ammo, and aircraft integrity are at stake. You can auto-resolve engagements, perfect for guaranteed wins, or manually pilot interceptors to conserve precious airframe health and tactical flexibility. Key tactical considerations include fuel management, afterburner usage, missile loadouts, evasive rolls, and focused targeting strategies.

Manual vs. Auto-Resolve:

• Auto-resolve is ideal when your success chance is high (e.g., 100%); however, it can still result in aircraft damage or losses.
• Manual control helps preserve aircraft and ammo in less certain scenarios by enabling evasive maneuvers and strategic missile timing.

Afterburners & Fuel:

• Afterburners boost interceptor speed by 50% but dramatically increase fuel consumption, approximately triple the normal rate, requiring careful use.

Missile & Weapon Loadouts:

• Weapons fall into three classes: Cannons, Light Missiles, and Heavy Torpedoes (used against heavily armored UFOs). Timing missile launches with enemy evasive rolls is critical for effectiveness.

Engagement Tactics:

• Target the main UFO first: Eliminating the central craft often ends the engagement, even if escorts remain

Pro Tip: Position one interceptor to bait the UFO into presenting its flank (making it roughly perpendicular), then fire staggered missiles, launching one to trigger its evasive roll, and firing the next shot once the roll cooldown finishes to increase hit consistency

4. Ground Combat & Mission Objectives

Ground missions unfold on destructible, turn-based battlefields that span diverse environments, from arctic crash sites to dense city terror zones. Objectives vary, including securing downed UFOs or alien artifacts, defending bases and cities, and neutralizing alien threats. Your soldiers are persistent across missions, gaining attributes, promotions, and medals for battlefield accomplishments.

Mission Types & Objectives:

1. Capture UFO Sites & Alien Corpses: Missions such as UFO Crash Recovery and UFO Ground Assault task you with eliminating all enemies and holding the site for several turns to collect alien technology for research improvements.
2. City and Base Defense: In terror missions or base defense scenarios, you must repel enemy forces to safeguard civilians or your facility. Success often yields medals and morale boosts.

Persistent Soldiers, Progress & Medals:

• Soldiers survive between missions, accruing stat increases, rank promotions, and medals tied to achievements like kills, bravery, or mission-specific performance.

Tactical Layers: Cover, Loadouts & Movement:

1. Cover & Line of Sight: The game includes a directional cover system, where terrain and walls offer protection based on direction. Since maps are destructible, using this terrain advantage and managing fields of view helps prevent flanking.
2. Squad Composition & Equipment Tradeoffs: Community tactics recommend mixing roles, i.e. assault troopers, shotgunners, and medics for effective combat. Heavier gear (armor and weapons) impacts Time Units (TUs), slowing movement and reducing reaction fire options.

5. Base Construction & Global Coverage

Your initial base should prioritize critical facilities like radars, hangars, living quarters, and a medical center to establish early detection and response ability. Expanding to two or three strategically located bases maximizes radar coverage and interceptor response, which is vital for preventing funding loss and defending multiple world regions.

1. First Base Build Order: Building 2× Radar, 1× Living Quarters, and 1× Med Lab early is a solid strategy to bolster detection, staffing, and healing.
2. Hangar Strategy: Aiming for 3 hangars per base, typically structured as 1 Condor and 2 Foxtrot interceptors, balances air defense power effectively in the early to mid-game.
3. Expanding to Multiple Bases: Expanding to a second base in Month 2 and a third base in Month 3 is recommended to extend radar coverage while keeping finances manageable.
4. Anti-Air Guns: Anti-air guns (AA guns) are optional. Many players skip them entirely, if your interceptor network is well-distributed and managed, they are often unnecessary

Pro Tip: Even if auto-resolve shows a 90%+ success probability, it’s often safer to manually engage, as this can preserve interceptor health by enabling evasive maneuvers and smarter targeting, unlike auto-resolve, which frequently damages your aircraft even in guaranteed victories

6. Research & Technology Tree

Research in Xenonauts transforms alien alloys and corpses into cutting-edge technologies through two main paths, i.e. Science (for new tech) and Engineering (for production) that rely on recovered resources. Prioritizing both research and engineering is key to unlocking advanced weaponry, armor, and aircraft.

Key Mechanics:

1. Plasma Weaponry: Researching “Plasma Weaponry” (requires Alien Plasma Technology as a prerequisite) unlocks infantry plasma weapons that outclass lasers in damage while maintaining similar range and accuracy.
2. Alloy Plating / Alien Armor Plating: Research into alien capital ship plating (often termed “Alloy Plating” or “Alien Armour Plating”) enables advanced protective equipment with significantly improved damage resistance.
3. Balancing Scientist & Engineer Capacity: Official developer notes confirm that adding more scientists increases research speed (~2.5% per scientist), though diminishing returns apply. Balancing scientific and engineering output ensures research is turned into usable equipment efficiently.
4. Capture-Based Research Acceleration: Capturing intact alien artifacts, like UFO sections or aliens themselves, enables research projects and opens new branches, such as Plasma Weaponry

7. Economy & Funding Management

Monthly funding comes from each nation or region you protect. Shooting down UFOs increases your reputation and grants, while allowing UFO missions (like terror events) harms relations and reduces funding.

• Prioritize broad radar and interceptor coverage early, even without a hard percentage goal, geographic reach helps protect income.
• Avoid early overspending on expensive interceptors before your funding base stabilizes; strategic timing is key.

Warning: Xenonauts includes no emergency loans or interest systems, so budget must be managed through gameplay performance alone

8. Advanced Strategies & Pro Tips

1. Favor Manual Air Combat Over Auto-Resolve

While auto-resolve might be tempting for high success chances, manual control preserves interceptor integrity and minimizes unnecessary damage. Pausing the fight and timing evasive rolls can drastically reduce the wear on your aircraft.

2. Use Strategic Formation and Flank UFOs

When engaging UFOs, position interceptors perpendicularly and let one bait the target. The other craft can then exploit missile lock more effectively and reduce exposure to defensive rolls.

3. Employ Afterburners Judiciously

Afterburners grant a significant 50% speed boost, useful for evading larger ships or repositioning, but they burn fuel rapidly and disable firing capabilities while active. Use sparingly and near your base to avoid running out of fuel.

4. Capture UFOs Intact for Maximum Research Yield

Don’t always auto-resolve intercepted UFOs/ Manually engaging allows for more controlled damage, increasing the likelihood of capturing intact wreckage or tech for valuable research and salvage.

5. Spread Your Bases for Optimal Radar and Interception Coverage

Don’t cluster your bases, place them far apart to minimize radar overlap and maximize global interception ability. Ideally, set up the second base around Month 2–3, equipped with two hangars and radar arrays

9. Conclusion

Mastering Xenonauts means balancing global pressure and tactical finesse by synchronizing radar coverage, interceptor deployment, resource allocation, and elite ground squads under constant alien threat. This guide has laid out the best practices to streamline your base expansion, research, combat tactics, and geoscape control. Now it’s your turn: apply these insights, adapt on the fly, and forge a defense so formidable the alien onslaught becomes nothing more than a memory. Victory awaits, Commander