To anyone who likes that game and having trouble starting (due to the insane difficulty), should check MeaslyTripod’s guide. This guy made an amazing manual for Steam Marines.

MeaslyTripod’s guide

I would like to make clear that this guide illustrates a way for you to beat the final boss in Alien Deck lv.5, that means your weapons and skills are pretty advanced at the moment. How to reach that point? That is tough, what you will need is tons of luck, repetition and:

• Great avoiding skills, break the corners, take a peek and run, or set your fighting method by using narrow openings and flanking.
  
• The first level (Command Deck) is the most difficult in my opinion. Once you pass it things are getting easier because you will also have the Hulk suit and more stuff.
  
• After the Command Deck you get to choose your next Deck. I recommend the bridge Deck. This is the most difficult so you either die or end up with some amazing gear that will help you clear the rest of the Decks later on.
  
• Also I am pretty sure that is a bug, but if you clear the bridge Deck and choose the Alien Deck after that, the game will allow you to play only one Alien Deck and then send you back to choose Decks again. After you clear the rest of the Decks and choose Alien again the game will end skipping 4 Alien levels and the boss. (I cannot confirm that though it only happened to me once … and that beats the purpose of this guide, to kill the final boss)
  
• Also if you beat the boss in the bridge you are getting at least 2 plasma mods which helps a lot.
  
• Use skills like Bulwark to block enemies from reaching you.
  
• Scouts also helps with the ability to eat enemy’s AP and making them block the other enemies at doors or other narrow passages.
  
• In the end never forget to upgrade your Soldiers with skills and stats. I finished the game once before realizing that you actually level up in this game.

When you reach the Alien Deck lv.5 make sure to slowly move and bulwark your rear to be secure. Also cover all possibilities with Overwatch. I used to break a wall with the support, take a peak, and then bulwark the break. Behind the Support always the leader with AP. In that case if an enemy appears where you broke the wall, you can shoot him with the leader to fall back, and then bulwark the opening one tile further, allowing you more movable space.

There will be a moment that you locate the elevator with the Boss. Take your time and plan ahead. Bulwark the boss entrance if possible and bulwark the surrounding as well. Make the place your battlefield, by placing the marines to be able to flank. Always leave one possible opening so as to have one enemy at time and always use the scout to eat the enemy’s AP first. Also never put a short range soldier across the opening because an enemy might outrange you and shoot you from the back of the enemy that blocks the entrance. Place the Scout across with his maximum range.

Here is an example of flanking positioning (it is harder with the Bruton enemies coz you do no damage from the front). Keep always in mind to shoot with one Soldier and change to another so as to add the extra flanking damage, and repeat. Never shoot all your AP with one before you go to the next one. Shoot - Change - Shoot - Change - e.t.c.


I will continue the guide from the point you located the Final Boss and cleared the rest of the enemies, either by luring them out one by one, or by bulwark them to oblivion.


You see in the image, the support is ready to bulwark the only enemy opening so as to isolate the boss, which is getting continuously ‘freezed’ by the scout.

As you ‘freeze’ the Boss with the Scout every round, you are free to prepare the surroundings or place the rest of the soldiers to flanking positions.


Here in the photo you see how the Boss is paralyzed and I do the system: Break the wall with the Support – Shoot any enemy back with the leader – move one tile and Bulwark with the support. This is for you to make more space to move around.

I did that because I wanted to place the leader as such as to shoot the m#$%er f@#$er to Space.
Here you can see how I cleared the site with my Grenadier so as to get ready to kick him out.


Of course nobody mention that although you shoot him to other tiles … you cannot shoot them to Space.


So the next best thing is to kill those 600-700 HP of an Alien. Well after that point it is easy since you have the Scout to eat any boss’s AP at the beginning, and then shoot the hell out of him with the rest of the team.

Here ... is that skill over there.

The only thing left is to destroy the stupid Alien device and leave with the elevator.


This is the device, which you destroy by moving to the tile located.


The Boss’s loot is that blue Spear like adrenaline stuff which doubles your AP. I used it to the support, broke the previously placed Bulwark wall, and run to destroy the device, and to the elevator.




It is the first guide I made, since I found this game awesomely fun, clever and challenging. I understand that might be not so useful since nobody seems to have finished the game even in hard mode. Nevertheless I hope you guys find something useful in there and use it to beat the game. Good luck and enjoy.