Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 How to Play

Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 drops up to four players into hostile territory as Colonial Marines fighting to survive Xenomorph swarms, synthetic hostiles, and evolving alien threats. This guide covers everything you need before your first deployment.

Game overview

The sequel expands from three to four players and introduces a fully customisable Specialist class unlocked by levelling the other five base classes. Missions take place across space stations, planetary outposts, and hive environments. Every room can turn lethal without warning.

The core loop is straightforward: select a mission, equip your class and weapons, coordinate with your fireteam, and extract alive. Between missions you manage loadouts, spend in-game credits on new weapons and attachments, and unlock class-specific ability fragments.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 - Co-Op Showcase

Difficulty levels

Aliens:Fireteam Elite 2 offers four difficulty settings that scale enemy health, damage, spawn density, and special enemy frequency.

Rookie — Designed for new players learning class mechanics and mission flow. Reduced enemy density and lower damage output give new marines room to experiment.

Veteran — The recommended difficulty for experienced co-op players. Enemy density and damage scale up noticeably. You will need to use class abilities actively and coordinate with your squad.

Heroic — Pushes fireteams to use every tool available. Enemy coordination improves: Xenomorphs flank more aggressively and heavy variants appear earlier in missions.

Insane — The ultimate challenge. Enemy health and damage are at maximum. A single misposition can wipe a squad. Only recommended for players who have mastered their class and understand mission layouts.

Difficulty can be adjusted at the mission select screen. Each difficulty level affects scoring and the rarity of loot drops.

Fireteam roles

A balanced squad covers four core responsibilities. Understanding these roles helps you pick classes that complement each other rather than creating gaps.

Tank / Heavy — Marauder absorbs and dishes heavy damage. Shoulders-mounted Blast Cannon or Titan Rockets control corridors and deal with grouped enemies.

DPS / Primary Fire — Duelist provides consistent rifle damage. Two primary weapon slots let you switch between sustained fire and precision loadouts mid-mission.

Tech / Control — Machinist deploys turrets and drones to hold ground. Plasma weapons add area denial. Turret synergies boost nearby ally damage resistance.

Support / Healing — Medic keeps the squad alive. Combat Stims provide burst healing or offensive buffs. Trauma Station can be upgraded into a Buffing or Poison Station.

The Specialist class, unlocked by levelling all five base classes, lets you mix fragments from any combination into a single custom marine. This gives experienced players the flexibility to build around specific Horde compositions or mission requirements.

Mission structure

Every mission follows a broadly similar structure regardless of map or enemy type.

Deployment — Select your class, primary weapon, sidearm, and kit. Brief mission objectives are shown.

Combat phases — Progress through a series of combat encounters of increasing intensity. Mid-mission events — a door breach, a synth ambush, a horde wave — raise the threat level.

Extraction — Reach the extraction point. Enemy density peaks here. Squad coordination is critical; many wipes occur at the extraction gate.

Between missions you return to the barracks, where weapon purchases, class progression, and loadout management take place.

What to do first

Start with Rookie difficulty on the first mission to familiarise yourself with movement, weapon handling, and class abilities. Spend your initial credit pool on a weapon that suits your chosen class. Experiment across all five base classes before committing to a main — each unlocks different fragments for the Specialist.

Once you are comfortable with the mechanics, move to Veteran. Insist on voice or text communication with your squad; the game rewards coordination in ways that pugs cannot replicate.

Frequently asked questions

Can I play solo? Yes. AI-controlled marines fill empty squad slots. Solo play works best on Rookie and Veteran. Heroic and Insane are significantly harder without a full human fireteam.

Do I need to play the first game? No. Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 tells a self-contained story. Returning players will recognise the setting and lore, but no prior knowledge is required.

Is the game difficulty-scaled for player count? Enemy count and density scale to some degree with squad size, but a four-player fireteam will face more total enemies than a solo or two-player group. The game is balanced around a full squad.

How do I unlock the Specialist class? Level all five base classes to their maximum rank. Each level grants fragments that can be mixed in the Specialist loadout screen. See the Specialist guide for a full breakdown.