Unlocking Secret Pilots

Learn how to find and unlock secret pilots in Into the Breach. Discover the requirements, locations, and strategies for obtaining these powerful new units.

Alright, so you're looking to spice up your squad with some of the game's hidden pilots, huh? It's totally doable, and honestly, pretty exciting when you pull it off. Think of it like finding a rare piece of loot – it takes a little know-how, but the payoff is huge.

Here's the lowdown: Secret Pilots are tied to finding a special glowing yellow Beacon. You'll only ever find these Beacons on Damaged Mountain or Damaged Ice tiles. Just a heads-up, you can't get a Secret Pilot from cracking a regular Mountain or Ice tile; the Beacon has to be there from the start of the mission.

Also, don't bother looking for these on the very first island. You also won't find a Beacon during any mission that features a Time Pod or the specific mission called "Defend the Corporate Tower". Basically, the Time Pod and the Beacon are mutually exclusive – you get one or the other, not both.

You can find these Beacons on any of the Corporate Islands, so keep your eyes peeled as you progress through the game.

How to Unlock a Secret Pilot

Once you're on a mission where a Beacon might appear (remember, not the first island, and no Time Pods!), here’s the general process:

1. Check the Map: On any mission after the first island, take a good look at the map. See if any Mountain or Ice tiles are already damaged. This is your first clue!
2. Expose the Beacon: If you spot a Beacon on a damaged tile, you'll need to destroy that Mountain or Ice tile to make the Beacon itself accessible.
3. Mech Activation: A Mech needs to move onto the tile where the Beacon is located. This activates it.
4. Strange Pod Spawns: The very next turn after your Mech activates the Beacon, it will spawn a Strange Pod.
5. Secure the Pod: This Strange Pod works a lot like a Time Pod. You either need to recover it directly or protect it until the end of the mission.
6. Reveal the Pilot: After the mission is over, opening the Strange Pod will reveal your brand-new Secret Pilot!

It takes a minimum of two turns to actually recover the Beacon once you've found it. For example, let's say the Beacon is in tile H3 on a Damaged Mountain. First, you'd destroy that mountain to expose the Beacon. Then, on the next turn, you'd move a Mech onto H3 to activate it. This will spawn the Strange Pod, maybe in tile D5, and add a bonus objective to protect it. Once you've recovered or protected the pod and finished the mission, you can open it up to unlock your Secret Pilot.

There might be other, more speculative conditions for unlocking pilots mentioned elsewhere, but this is the core mechanic you need to know.