Ubisoft’s upcoming online arena shooter XDefiant was initially centered around the Tom Clancy universe, with classes from all the various iterations of the title. The lukewarm response to the reveal in July 2021 saw Ubisoft drop the “Tom Clancy” moniker and expand to include factions from various Ubisoft games from yesteryears. With each XDefiant faction having a different ability, passive, and ultra, a newcomer might feel overwhelmed when trying out the game. But fear not, as we went through each faction in XDefiant and have compiled all the info about their powers and abilities in this article. So, if you are confused about which class to play in XDefiant, read along and make a choice.
In Ubisoft’s first-person shooter XDefiant, at launch, players get to choose from five different ability-centered classes belonging to separate factions from past Ubisoft titles. Each class brings different core abilities and ultimates to the game, requiring you to find the best fit for your playstyle and your team. One of the factions is locked by default, and players can either pay to unlock it or play matches to gain XP and unlock it. That said, here’s a rundown of the factions in XDefiant:
1. Cleaners
- Featured in: Tom Clancy’s The Division
- Abilities: Incinerator Drone and Firebomb
- Ultra: The Purifier
Cleaners are one of the enemy factions that players need to deal with in Tom Clancy’s online looter shooter The Division (2016). Though, this time around, you get a chance to step foot into the shoes of a Cleaner, thanks to XDefiant. Lore-wise, Cleaners are the sanitation and infrastructure maintenance workers left to fend for themselves when the government fell in the Division’s storyline.
Moreover, Cleaners have a penchant for using flamethrowers to do their bidding, and that gets carried over to this class in XDefiant. You can read about the passive, tactical, and ultimate abilities of the Cleaner faction here:
Incendiary Rounds (Passive): As the name suggests, this passive deals additional burn damage to an enemy on hit. However, because of this, the bullets do not have a longer range compared to the other characters.
Incinerator Drone (Ability): This ability sees the player can deploy a mechanical drone, which travels in a straight line and deals burn damage to enemies on its flight path. This ability has a 30-second cooldown.
Firebomb (Ability): Here, the players throw a firebomb that keeps burning the ground for five seconds, damaging any opponent team players that walk into it. This is a good defensive ability that can be useful in domination and zone control game modes in XDefiant.
The Purifier (Ultra): With the Purifier, the Cleaners equip their flamethrower for a set duration of time, allowing them to burn and damage the opponent team players.
2. Echelon
- Featured in: Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell
- Abilities: Digital Ghille Suit and Intel Suit
- Ultra: Sonar Goggles
The Splinter Cell franchise, which might be in limbo right now, was a cult classic from Ubisoft. While the first game is currently in the process of getting remade, XDefiant graciously welcomes a faction belonging to Sam Fisher’s agency. The Echelon class features Third Echelon agents, who are adept spies, utilizing their espionage skills to take down the opponent team. Naturally, this faction utilizes the covert ops tech for its abilities.
Low Profile (Passive): You can see the enemy’s approximate movements through small red markings on XDefiant’s mini-map. In the case of the Echelon spies, they do not appear on the mini-map, regardless of what action they perform.
Digital Ghille Suit (Ability): Using the Ghille Suit, an Echelon player can camouflage on the battlefield for nine seconds. Attacking the enemy player will remove their camo, making them visible.
Intel Suit (Ability): The Intel suit scans the nearby area for fifteen seconds, showing the last known location of the opponents.
Sonar Goggles (Ultra): Using this ability, the faction user dons the signature Sonar Goggles of Third Echelon, which equips them with Sam Fisher’s Five-Seven pistol that deals critical damage (100 per hit) and shows the real-time location of the enemies through the walls for its duration.
3. Libertad
- Featured in: Far Cry 5
- Abilities: BioVida Boost and El Remedio
- Ultra: Medico Supremo
Far Cry 5 was a great stress buster when it launched. Featuring a vast open world and a storyline involving guerilla fighters, the Libertad of Yara, come to XDefiant as a playable faction. The Libertad are the guerilla fighters battling against the tyrannical forces of Anton Castillo in Yara, utilizing any tactics to usurp the totalitarian government of the island nation. Evolving from the original “Outcasts” class, this faction focuses on healing, with passive traits and ability leaning towards that.
Regenerative Health (Passive): Libertads have a quick regenerating health perk for themselves and their team members, giving them an edge on the battlefield.
BioVida Boosts (Ability): The first ability immediately heals the player and nearby allies. Furthermore, it gives an additional 20 health points to you, bringing your total health to 120 right after use.
El Remedio (Ability): This ability sees The Libertad player drop a healing canister that keeps healing a group of people at a place. This continues until the canister is recovered or destroyed.
Medico Supremo (Ultra): The ultra ability gives a health boost of 200 to the player in XDefiant and escalates health regeneration for a limited time.
4. Phantoms
- Featured in: Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Phantoms
- Abilities: Mag Barrier and Blitz Shield
- Ultra: AEGIS
In 2014, Ubisoft launched a free-to-play tactical shooter that takes place in the future and features ex-Ghost operatives called Phantoms. Dubbed as Ghost Recon Phantom, the game sadly shut down its services in 2016 after a steady decline in the player base. While I had the opportunity of experiencing the title, many did not.
Fortunately, Ubisoft remembered the distinguished Ghost operatives and has brought them back for another stint in XDefiant. Phantoms are the tank characters in this game and utilize Athena Corporation’s technology to their advantage, as you can see in their kit here:
Hardened (Passive): Thanks to gene therapies, Phantoms have an increased base health of 120 as their passive. This is the only class in the game with an increased base health pool.
Mag Barrier (Ability): Mag Barrier creates a one-way barrier that stops enemy bullets but allows you and your allies to shoot through it, as long as the shield’s durability stays intact.
Blitz shield (Ability): Blitz Shield equips Phantoms with a bulletproof shield that allows them to stop incoming fire, but move and melee their opponents with it.
AEGIS (Ultra): Finally, the Phantoms use a 360-degree plasma shield that protects the players and their allies from incoming bullets. The shield allows Phantoms to stay mobile and use an electro-scatter gun on the enemies, critically damaging them.
5. DedSec
- Featured in: Watch Dogs
- Abilities: Hijack and Spiderbot
- Ultra: Lockout
The open-world third-person action-adventure game Watch Dogs showed a world where big tech controlled every aspect of our life, even our privacy. Spanning three games, players fought against the tech company Blume Corporation. While the fight for privacy and freedom continues, the hacktivists of DeadSec showcase their hacking prowess as a faction in XDefiant. This faction is locked by default and require you to either grind or pay to unlock it.
Fabricator (Passive): DeadSec can utilize their 3D printing capabilities as a passive, printing devices quickly right after deploying them. This allows them to deploy their abilities faster than others.
Hijack (Ability): Allows DeadSec members to take over an enemy-deployed ability and allow them to use it as their own.
Spiderbot (Ability): Allows the player in XDefiant to deploy a spider bot, which Watch Dogs fans might be aware of. The bot will go and attach itself to a nearby enemy’s face, shocking and incapacitating them in the process. This allows the player to take down their opponent quickly without any hurdle.
Lockout (Ultra): This ability prevents the opponent team from using their ultra or abilities. This allows your team to push forward and take out the enemy team much more swiftly.
XDefiant Factions Provide Everyone a Suitable PlayStyle
So, these are the first five factions that are available in the upcoming online FPS title XDefiant. Here, each class specializes in a particular set of abilities, providing a variety of comps and playstyles. Additionally, since each of these factions has a different core ability serving a different playstyle, a player gets the choice to try something they fancy. Furthermore, Ubisoft has confirmed that XDefiant will introduce a new faction, weapon, and new map with each season. S0, which XDefiant class are you looking forward to trying out? Do let us know in the comments below.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. At a time, a player can only select one particular ability from a class that they fancy.
No. The abilities are fixed for each class. You can change the class mid-match at any given time, along with their ability.
