The mother of all XCOM 2 mods just got its first update in a year, with 9445 words of patch notes proving it worthy of the Long War name

Since XCOM and XCOM 2 cemented themselves as the definitive PC strategy games of the 2010s, the Long War mods likewise became the definitive enhancements for both games. Longer, tougher, more varied, the Long War mods upped the complexity of some already impressively complex games, to the point we had XCOM expert John “Beagle” Teasdale write us some tips for surviving Long War 2 back in 2017. Time marches ever onwards, of course, and these days the version of the mod to play is Long War of the Chosen, which incorporates XCOM 2’s incredible expansion.

Specifically Long War of the Chosen 1.2.0, which landed on Steam on December 16—one year to the day since the mod’s last version.

The patch notes are as immense as you’d expect for such a mod, weighing in at 9,445 words and drilling down into microscopic details like “Warlock Mind Scorch can now also target SPARKs” and “Danger zone moved from TSgt to SSgt, allows suppression gunners to be able to get both cup and danger zone, buff to suppression builds.”

I’m going to be honest: it’s been a few years since I’ve played War of the Chosen and I never dabbled with this version of the Long War mod, so it’s almost all bafflingly dense patchese to me. But nothing gets me cheering like modders dedicated to tinkering with and enriching their favorite games for years and years after release. Same goes for the developers themselves, to be honest—another longtime Steam standby, Project Zomboid, just got a similarly huge update this week, its first in three years.

One notable change with LWOTC 1.2.0 is that the mod now requires XCOM 2’s Shen’s Last Gift DLC, which awkwardly isn’t available to buy standalone on the Steam store (you’ve got to get it in a bundle). The XCOM Ultimate Collection happens to be 89% off as of this writing, though, so it’s not too pricey to grab it.

LWOWTC 1.2.0’s many updates have been in the works on the mod’s experimental branch for the last year and should be compatible with existing saves, though due to some major rebalancing and new additions, you’re probably better off with a fresh save. You didn’t have other plans for the rest of the year, did you?

If you’re looking for some beginner’s tips or installation help with the mod, head on over to the LWOTC Discord.