How to get 5 Marines in Aliens: Dark Descent

Screenshot via Tindalos Interactive

For Aliens: Dark Descent, the more help one gets, the better things are overall. This method comes in different forms, but the most prominent one is how many members are in your squad. Each squadmate of your team can have unique abilities like dealing with certain types of enemies better that aren’t the alien. However, you are limited on who you can take at the start. But the game does give you the option to expand your fire team. If you want to make your life easier and have that extra firepower, read this guide on how to get 5 Marines in Aliens: Dark Descent.

Aliens: Dark Descent: How to get 5 Marines

The good news, getting that fifth member is somewhat easy to do. The somewhat bad news is that you’ll need to be further in the game in order to earn a new slot. Here’s an overview of what you’ll be doing:

• Complete Mission 6: Atmospheric Nightmare
• Make your way to Basement Floor 1
• Hack into an APC

So, the first piece of advice is pretty self-explanatory — be far in the game. Mission 6 is relatively deep in the game, you’ll be around the 10-hour mark before reaching it. But when you do, Aliens: Dark Descent as a whole becomes much easier.

As you play Atmospheric Nightmare you need to make your way down to Basement Floor 1. This will be easy for you, as it’ll be marked on the map. The hard part is that there will be a large infestation of aliens all around, so take care of them before moving on.

Once you’ve cleared the area, head to the elevator and make your way down. This is where you’ll find an APC, in order to unlock its door, you must hack it. This can be done by yourself, or if you have a Tecker class in your squad. After the door is opened a cut scene will play, and you’ll be taken back to the Otago. This will complete the mission, and you can take a fifth squad mate with you.

Why is having 5 Marines important?

Having a 4 man team could be harder. Because if you’ve got a teammate with trauma and is recovering, you may output less damage and be slower. But with 5 squadmates, you can take the trauma-affected Marine with you. Because now that new member can offset the trauma overall. Plus, if you have different roles in your team, the fifth member can make the squad a well-oiled machine due to having a diverse range of options. As mentioned, this can give you more freedom in how you do things in Aliens: Dark Descent. Because the more you can do, the more you can manage.

Aliens: Dark Descent is available now via Steam.