XCOM: One Does Not Simply "Shoot" a Cryssalid...

[Toastkart]

There are two roles a sniper can play. They can either be a high-damage frontliner, or a back-rank support. I like to find a nice perch with a commanding view of the battlefield and put my sniper up there, and if that's the case then Squadsight is invaluable. A sniper in a good position with squadsight can fire with good accuracy on half the map. The trick is to find a good spot and get them there.

The problem I've found is that not all battlefields have a good perch. And line of sight, even with squad sight, seems to matter. Maybe it's just me. I've got two snipers now, so I'll have one of each and see how it goes.

1. I'm seeing three possible 'build orders' in term of early game research.

I didn't think of it in terms of build order, I just took the research projects as they seemed the most useful. Which I guess sort of put me in the order of capture, armor, weapons. I also started in Europe, and set up adjacent laboratories early on, so I have a lot of research bonuses.

2. The importance of flanking is really frustrating in this game because it conflicts with the importance of not waking up every alien on the map. Sometimes you set up the perfect way for your soldier to get around the enemy's cover only to discover that your route takes you within sight of a pack or two of other aliens, who proceed to charge out to their buddy's rescue. Ugh.

This has been my experience too. The more you can compartmentalize a fight, the safer you'll be. In this case, flanking is a delightful bonus, not something you try to achieve for every shot.

The way I play it, ever since I got a squad of six, is to move up in covering lines. My two assaults are out front, covered by a heavy and a support. I have a sniper who's behind them and the last slot depends on what class I have in it. If it's another assault, he's up front. If it's a support or heavy, they're mid-line.

If I have to split my squad, I split into groups of three. Basically, each soldier is covered by one if not two others. In the case of say floaters doing that jetpack move where they come down behind you, he's under fire from at least two of my guys. Similarly, if we get charged by a beserker, he's under fire from most if not all of my squad no matter what angle he comes at or how close he gets.

3. Half cover is terrible. Since your soldiers will die in one or two hits against most enemies, a 45% chance of being hit is still a rather high chance of instant death. Of course, this is also applicable to aliens, and I'm still trying to decide whether it's worth simply pouring firepower on aliens in half cover rather than attempting to flank them.

Agreed, but it's better than nothing. Most of the time it's all you've got, especially in wilderness areas with crash/landed ufos. Most of the kills I've made were through partial cover.

4. I seem to lose hardest whenever I go up against Floaters. Anyone have any tips on how to handle them? I can't stop them from advancing when their flying bonus gives them the equivalent of half cover all the time, no matter where they are, and they seem to have an accuracy advantage against my guys all the time. The best I can hope for is when one decides to try Launching to flank one of my soldiers, and by doing so, exposes his own flank.

Even when I was low rank I found floaters to be relatively easy to deal with. It's really only when they're in combination with other, more dangerous troops that they become a threat. Now, I did just encounter heavy floaters, and they seem much more dangerous due to their hp boost and it seems they have some kind of aoe attack now. I did manage to capture one during my first encounter, so it's not as if they're impossibly tough. They did a fair amount of damage to my squad before I got them, though.

That's where oversight and suppression come in. You set some guys on oversight, then flush them out of cover and straight into the firing lines of whoever you have waiting.

Also, I have bad luck with rapid fire.

That's an interesting idea I hadn't thought of. That being said, I often find it easier just to shoot him directly. If there's a 50+% chance of hitting an enemy that's under cover, it's worth taking the shot most of the time.

As for rapid fire, it can be finicky. I've missed both shots at ~65% and close range, but that's xcom for you. Still worth trying against close range enemies like beserkers, cryssalids, etc.