Aliens: Dark Descent - Master the Art of Unit Healing for Ultimate Victory

Aliens: Dark Descent is an engaging single-player tactical RTS set in the popular Aliens franchise. In this game, players lead a team of colonial marines tasked with containing a Xenomorph outbreak on the planet Lethe. Similar to the XCOM series, players must carefully manage their squad on the battlefield to avoid permanent casualties.

Luckily, there are various strategies available to ensure the survival and readiness of soldiers for future missions. It is crucial to remember that Marines need to be safely extracted from the mission before it concludes for any treatments aboard the Otago to be effective.

Light Wounds

Marines will start each mission with full health and extra armor. The armor cannot be regenerated, but the Marine's health can regenerate unless they are critically wounded and unconscious. When a Marine's health is reduced to 2HP (indicated by a red health bar), they will experience a Light Wound, which will impact their abilities until they receive treatment either on the field or in the Otago's Medical Bay. Light Wounds have the following debuffs:

- Hemorrhage: The Marine will experience a Hemorrhage and will fall into a Coma if not healed within 180 seconds.

Painful Wound: The Marine takes Stress Damage every few seconds.

Commotion: The Marine is Stunned and cannot perform actions.

Wounded Leg: The Marine suffers a Movement Speed penalty.

Wounded Arm: The Marine is forced to use their Secondary Weapon.

Heavy Wounds

To address these injuries, players can utilize Medical Supplies discovered throughout the game in boxes marked with a red cross. By selecting the injured marine, you can administer First Aid to initiate the healing process. It is important to note that both marines involved in this action will be temporarily unable to participate in combat. Additionally, Medical Supplies can also be employed to administer Naproleve, assisting in the reduction of the marine's Stress levels.

When a Marine's HP reaches zero, they will either die or fall into a Coma. Comatose Marines can be carried by team members and brought to the ARC for extraction. If they have survived, they can then receive medical treatment in the Medical Bay and rejoin the action at a later time. Besides that, there is not much that can be done to assist them in the field. However, because soldiers gain XP while on deployment, it is always worth attempting to extract fallen marines whenever possible. Heavy Wounds result in more severe penalties, which include the following:

Coma: The Marine is Stunned and incapacitated.

Wounded Leg: The Marine has lost their leg. They will need Prosthesis and a long time to recover in the Medbay.

Wounded Arm: The Marine has suffered an amputation and requires a Prosthesis. It will take a considerable amount of time for them to recover in the Medbay.

In cases where a Marine succumbs to fatal injuries and passes away immediately, their Dog Tags can be retrieved to allocate XP among the remaining team members.

Aliens: Dark Descent is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.