Select Language:
Menace is centered around making decisions. You choose which factions to support, which missions to undertake, and what upgrades to install on your ship. But the ongoing choices you’ll face revolve around your squad and their leaders.
Squad Leaders are the core of your squads, so it’s important to manage them well. This includes promotions, equipment, and the missions you assign to them.
What Are Squad Leaders?
At the start of the game, you select up to four squad leaders to form your initial squads. More can be added later, but their roles remain the same. Squad Leaders are unique individuals who influence how their entire squad operates.
There are two types of squad leaders:
- Pilots: They operate vehicles like troop transports and tanks. They don’t use squaddies, and their gear depends on the vehicle they are driving.
- Infantry: The most common type, using a squad of squaddies who carry various tools and weapons. They tend to be less individually powerful than pilots.
Squad leaders come with a set of perks that become available when they are promoted. These perks allow for specialization, such as removing the encumbered status from heavy weapons or increasing accuracy with repeated targeting.
Hiring New Squad Leaders
After the initial four, most new squad leaders are acquired from the game’s Black Market. This store operates through bartering, where you trade items and gear you no longer need for new squad leaders. When hiring, you can choose between pilots and infantry, but you can’t see who will appear in the pool before hiring.
Once hired, a squad leader can go straight into missions. It’s wise to keep some available at all times in case a leader dies or becomes too tired to continue.
Promotions and Outfitting
Squad leaders can earn up to eight promotions, starting with one. Promotions are earned using Promotion points, gained by completing missions—more difficult missions yield more points. These points are a shared resource that you allocate to your leaders as you see fit.
Before hiring, you can preview all potential perks available at each promotion. Promotions are organized into four tiers; as leaders reach higher tiers, promotions become more costly, indicated by a promotion tax. Some leaders, like those with the eager trait, can get upgrades at a lower cost, which is very helpful.
Promoting a squad leader repeatedly allows for customizing their role. If you decide a leader’s perks aren’t right, you can demote them to regain some Promotion points and re-promote them with different perks.
Outfitting Squad Leaders
Gear management is crucial. Squad leaders determine what equipment their squads have, making it essential to equip them properly. Pilots don’t have squads but are assigned to vehicles; their gear focuses mainly on their vehicle’s weapons and accessories.
For infantry leaders, you need to assign a primary weapon and can also equip a special weapon. Accessories like extra ammo pouches, backup pistols, or grenades can also be added. The equipment cost depends on the number of squad members, as more squaddies mean more health and damage but also higher supply costs.
For vehicle pilots, the process is similar, though available slots and equipment types depend on the vehicle.
What Are Squaddies?
Squaddies are the individual troops in your squads. When creating a squad, you select the number of squaddies—minimum of two, maximum of eight. These are not just generic units; each squaddy is a unique, persistent character. If a squaddy dies, they’re permanently lost unless saved by a Med Bay.
You can see your total squaddies on the resources screen between missions. Recruitment is slow—built up over time with Impetus components—or faster through the Black Market. Keeping your squaddies alive and healthy is important, so be cautious about how many you bring on missions. If your numbers drop too low, consider reducing squad sizes or being more selective to avoid costly losses.
ChatGPT
Perplexity
Gemini AI
Grok AI
