Secret Squad

The **Secret Squad** is one of the Squads from Into The Breach, available to purchase for 25 coins.

A special squad with mechs based off the Vek, this squad is considered the most challenging in Into The Breach as their unique "Cyborg" class and irreplacable Vek pilots force you to adapt with little initial power.

## Description

The Secret Squad consists of the Techno-Beetle, Techno-Hornet and Techno-Scarab, whose base attacks are derived from their Vek counterparts. Unlike all other mechs these mechs have the special **Cyborg** class, meaning that all non-Cyborg weapons (i.e all other weapons apart from what they start with) will require 1 extra core to use. However, Cyborg weapons themselves are not tied to their mech and can be freely swapped.

In addition, cyborg mechs are commanded by a Cyborg Pilot each, which cannot be swapped out (even between cyborg mechs) and prohibit you from using your time traveller. These pilots cannot time travel to new timelines, but any additional pilots obtained can. Cyborg Pilots do not die but lose 25XP instead, which can temporarily remove a skill until it is obtained again; skills obtained are pre-determined so this cannot re-roll them. **Popular Hero** and **Invulnerable** are excluded from their skill pool if advanced pilot abilities are on.

## Mechs

*Dash across the map, damaging and pushing the target tile.* (1 damage)
Upgrade I
Smoke Behind () *Tile behind you gains Smoke.*
Upgrade II

*Throw needles at the enemy, pushing the furthest hit tile. (Starts with 1-tile range.)* (1 damage)
Upgrade I
Range & Damage ( ) *Increases potential hit tiles by 1 and damage on all tiles by 1.*
Upgrade II

*Artillery attack that damages a tile and pushes adjacent tiles away.* (1 damage)
Upgrade I
+1 Tile () *Increases area hit by 1 tile.*
Upgrade II

## Achievements

There are no Achievements for the Secret Squad.

## Strategies

* It is unwise to play with advanced pilot abilities as the only new worthwhile ability is **Skilled,** while the large amount of weaker skills dilute the pool and decrease the chance of getting the valuable **+1 Mech Reactor**.
* Needle Shot is the best starting weapon for this squad as with only two cores it can increase its net damage from 1 to 4. Since you are guaranteed 1 time pod (and 1 reactor core), needle shot should be given to the first pilot that gets a free reactor.
* The squad's core usage is very heavy, especially with other weapons. This means that getting a new weapon through a perfect island is critical to a good run; even if it is poor it can be donated for 1 reputation and raise your balance to 9, enough for 3 cores.
* Eventually, Needle Shot and Explosive Goo can deal incredible damage and neutralise many threats at once. An additional weapon should be placed on the Techno-Beetle, as its weapon does not scale as well over time and can remain unupgraded.

## Trivia

* The Secret Squad is the only base-game squad with only one mech starting at 3HP. This trait is shared with the Heat Sinkers and Cataclysm with the release of Advanced Edition.
* Before Advanced Edition the Secret Squad would only be obtainable if all achievements have been obtained, assuming all other squads have been unlocked. After Advanced Edition purchasing all squads with all coins leaves 5 coins remaining.
* Needle Shot's upgrades are based on each level of Hornet; the unupgraded attack matches that of the regular enemy, one upgrade makes it attack like its alpha and both upgrades make it attack like the Hornet Leader.

## Reference List

1. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/IntoTheBreach/comments/a3t84i/secret\_squad\_question/